Articles | Volume 22, issue 20
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-5573-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-5573-2025
Research article
 | 
15 Oct 2025
Research article |  | 15 Oct 2025

Human activities caused hypoxia expansion in a large eutrophic estuary: non-negligible role of riverine suspended sediments

Yue Nan, Zheng Chen, Bin Wang, Bo Liang, and Jiatang Hu

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Cited articles

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Short summary
Human activities are changing the coastal water environment, but the role of suspended sediments in oxygen loss is not well understood. We used a model to compare dissolved oxygen levels and related factors in the 1990s and 2010s in the Pearl River estuary. Reduced suspended sediments and increased pollution have expanded low-oxygen areas by 1.5 times. This highlights the fact that declining suspended sediments increase hypoxia in estuaries, especially with rising nutrients, which needs urgent attention.
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