Articles | Volume 21, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-1575-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-1575-2025
Research article
 | 
29 Jul 2025
Research article |  | 29 Jul 2025

Ventilation of the Bay of Bengal oxygen minimum zone by the Southwest Monsoon Current

Peter M. F. Sheehan, Benjamin G. M. Webber, Alejandra Sanchez-Franks, and Bastien Y. Queste

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Short summary
Using measurements and computer models, we identify a large flux of oxygen within the Southwest Monsoon Current, which flows north into the Bay of Bengal between June and September each year. Oxygen levels in the bay are very low, but they are not quite low enough for key nutrient cycles to be as dramatically altered as in other low-oxygen regions. We suggest that the flux which we identify contributes to keeping oxygen levels in the bay above the threshold below which dramatic changes would occur.
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