Biogeochemical and physical drivers of hypoxia in a tropical embayment (Brunei Bay)

Dissolved oxygen is an ecologically critical variable with the prevalence of hypoxia one of the key global anthropogenic issues. A study was carried out to understand the causes of low dissolved oxygen in Brunei Bay, northwest Borneo. Hypoxia was widespread in bottom waters in the monsoonal dry season with dissolved oxygen < 2 mg/L throughout the coastal zone. This was a result of riverine nutrient input primarily from the Padas river driving excess primary production and its subsequent sinking into stratified bottom water where its decomposition consumed oxygen. Despite higher riverine nutrient input in the wet season hypoxia was less extensive due to the combination of turbidity reducing coastal primary production, the intrusion of oxygen-rich water from the South China Sea into offshore bottom layer waters and horizontal flushing increase advection of phytoplankton biomass out of the bay. Future investigation of hypoxia in shallow tropical regions therefore needs to consider the role of monsoonal season.