Unprecedented summer hypoxia in southern Cape Cod Bay:  an ecological response to regional climate change?

Scully, Malcolm E.; Geyer, W. Rockwell; Borkman, David; Pugh, Tracy L.; Costa, Amy; Nichols, Owen C.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3523-2022

Articles | Volume 19, issue 14

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3523-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3523-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 14

Research article

|

28 Jul 2022

Research article |

| 28 Jul 2022

Unprecedented summer hypoxia in southern Cape Cod Bay: an ecological response to regional climate change?

Malcolm E. Scully, W. Rockwell Geyer, David Borkman, Tracy L. Pugh, Amy Costa, and Owen C. Nichols

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3523-2022-supplement

Data sets

Southern Cape Cod Bay hypoxia data M. E. Scully, T. L. Pugh, W. R. Geyer, A. Costa, and Nichols O. C. https://doi.org/10.26025/1912/29009

Meteorological and oceanographic data collected from the National Data Buoy Center Coastal-Marine Automated Network (C-MAN) and moored (weather) buoys [Buoy 44103] US DOC/NOAA/NWS/NDBC (National Data Buoy Center) https://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_history.php?station=44013

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Short summary

For two consecutive summers, the bottom waters in southern Cape Cod Bay became severely depleted of dissolved oxygen. Low oxygen levels in bottom waters have never been reported in this area before, and this unprecedented occurrence is likely the result of a new algae species that recently began blooming during the late-summer months. We present data suggesting that blooms of this new species are the result of regional climate change including warmer waters and changes in summer winds.