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Oceanography

Slowing of the ocean’s deep breath

The deepest reaches of the ocean are ventilated by sinking of cold and relatively saline seawater around Antarctica. Observations from the Australian sector of the Southern Ocean reveal a decline in sinking and abyssal ventilation, linked to dropping ocean salinity on the Antarctic shelf.

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Fig. 1: Slowdown of Antarctic sinking drives deoxygenation of the deep ocean.

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Correspondence to Casimir de Lavergne.

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de Lavergne, C. Slowing of the ocean’s deep breath. Nat. Clim. Chang. 13, 507–508 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01662-z

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