We are organizing a special session on oxygen dynamics in coastal hypoxic zones (session description below) for the upcoming ASLO biennial meeting being held 13-18 February 2011 in San Juan, Puerto Rico (http://aslo.org/meetings/sanjuan2011/index.html).
We hope you will consider submitting an abstract to be included in the session. The abstract deadline for the meeting is approaching quickly (11 October). Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Thanks, Brian Roberts ([email protected]) Nancy Rabalais ([email protected]) _______________ S91: Oxygen Dynamics in Coastal Hypoxic Zones Conveners: Brian J. Roberts, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON), [email protected]; Nancy N. Rabalais, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON), [email protected] Hypoxia, a shortage of dissolved oxygen, develops in the bottom waters of coastal aquatic ecosystems when biological oxygen demand exceeds the resupply of oxygen from surface waters. The occurrence of hypoxia can be natural, human influenced, or result from interactions of natural and human-induced processes. The frequency, intensity, and duration of coastal hypoxia has been expanding in recent decades coincident with eutrophication of the coastal zone and changes in oceanographic conditions due to climate change. There is strong interest globally in reducing the size and duration of hypoxia in coastal waters because of the numerous deleterious effects it causes for many organisms and ecosystem processes. Despite this growing interest, there has been surprisingly little research emphasis on quantifying oxygen production and consumption rates or understanding the mechanisms regulating these critical processes in the bottom waters and sediments of coastal hypoxic zones. The goal of this special session is to bring together researchers making these critical process rate measurements in diverse coastal ecosystems in order to improve our understanding of the mechanisms regulating oxygen dynamics during hypoxia development and maintenance.
