Hypoxia in Chilean Patagonian Fjords

Chilean Patagonia is one of the largest estuarine systems in the world. It is characterized by a complex geography of approximately 3,300 islands, a total surface area of 240,000 km², and 84,000 km of coast line, including islands, peninsulas, channels, fjords, and sounds. The Chilean Patagonia Interior Sea is filled with a mixture of sea, estuarine, and fresh waters, and is characterized by a two layer vertical general circulation. Dissolved oxygen (DO) conditions in these fjords were analyzed based on historic salinity, dissolved oxygen and nutrient data from 1,200 oceanographic stations. Horizontal advection of adjacent well oxygenated Subantarctic Waters (5-6 mL L^-1) was the mayor source of DO in the deep layers of the Interior Sea. Incoming DO was consumed by the respiration of autochthonous and allochthonous particulate organic matter, as ocean water flows towards the continental fjord heads, reaching near-hypoxic (2-3 mL L^-1) or hypoxic levels (< 2 mL L^-1). As DO declined nutrient concentrations increased towards the fjord heads (from ∼ 1.6 μM PO₄^-3 and ∼ 16 μM NO₃- to ∼ 2.4 μM PO₄^-3 and ∼ 24 μM NO₃-). Overall, DO conditions in the Interior Sea were mostly the result of a combination of physical and biogeochemical processes. In all eastern channels and fjords, a low DO zone developed near the fjord heads (< 4 mL L^-1) as a result of larger allochthonous particulate organic matter inputs transported by local rivers. This enhanced organic matter input to the deep layer increased DO consumption due to respiration and overwhelmed the oxygen supplied by horizontal advection. Out of the 90 Chilean Patagonian gulfs, channels and fjords analyzed, 86 systems were oxic (> 2 mL L^-1) and four hypoxic (< 2 mL L^-1), but only at their heads. None were found to be anoxic (0 mL L^-1). We found these DO conditions to be permanent features of the Chilean Patagonia Interior Sea.