BIOCAT - BIOCAN

SO305 - BIOCAT-IIEO2:Biogeochemistry-Atmosphere Processes in the Bay of Bengal - The Carbon Cycle

The northern Indian Ocean hosts two of the most intense oxygen minimum zones of the world’s ocean: the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The more intense oxygen minimum in the Arabian Sea, is created by increased primary production due to the southwest and northeast monsoon. Denitrification takes place in the oxygen minimum zone, making the Arabian Sea to one of the most important oceanic nitrogen sinks. These processes are significantly affected by global warming and rising nutrient inputs. Anthropogenic activities are already impacting the Arabian Sea's role in the global nitrogen cycle and will continue to do so more intensively in the future.

SO303 - BIOCAN-IIEO2: Biogeochemistry of carbon and nitrogen in the Arabian Sea - Development of the Oxygen Minimum Zone

In the Bay of Bengal, oxygen concentrations are slightly higher and above the denitrification threshold. However, rising anthropogenic inputs of nutrients and trace substances may increase oxygen depletion, potentially pushing conditions beyond the tipping point for denitrification and creating an additional nitrogen sink in the ocean.

In the BIOCAN-N project, biogeochemical processes in the Arabian Sea are examined during the SONNE 303 research cruise, focusing on the nitrogen cycle and organic material degradation across different time scales. The BIOCAT-N project studies major element cycles, oxygen concentrations, and the anthropogenic input of dissolved and particulate matter in the Bay of Bengal during the SONNE 305 research cruise.