Biblioteca

The submarine seamount chains of Nazca and Salas & Gómez in the Southeast Pacific are areas of high levels of both biodiversity and endemism. The intersection of both ridges is strongly influenced by the Eastern Boundary Upwelling System of the Southeast Pacific and its associated oxygen minimum zone (OMZ). The isolation of individual seamounts and their fragile ecosystems make them extremely vulnerable to any changes in physical and biogeochemical conditions. Here we assess how a number of key physical and biogeochemical variables are projected to change in two climate scenarios using a statistical approach known as quantile regression. This allows the assessment of trends in medians as well as ranges and extremes. Trends in medians show consistent patterns of temperature increase and pH decrease over the entire range of the seamount chains (and entire Southeast Pacific region). Chlorophyll-a appears to show an increase over the majority of the range of the seamounts except at the coast where it decreases. However, the individual seamount chains show contrasting changes for other variables, with the Nazca ridge showing increased oxygen alongside decreasing nutrient levels indicative of decreased upwelling despite contrasting changes in wind stress curl and stratification....