Scientists Pump Oxygen into a 'Dead' Fjord to Restore it to Life

Scientists may have brought a dead fjord back to life. They installed pumps in a Swedish fjord that showed a strong oxygen deficit and now, they've reported that oxygen-loving organisms have returned to the region.

Many of the world's bodies of water are losing oxygen. In fact, climate models predict an increase of this phenomenon in the future. A lack of oxygen can drive animals away from a region, impacting fisheries and even causing die-offs. That's why researchers decided to see if it was possible to restore an area with pumps.

The researchers wanted to see if pumps could support and enhance natural venting events that bring oxygen-rich water into deeper parts of the water column. Ultimately, this approach could be used to increase water quality. The scientists installed pumps in a Swedish fjord called Byfjord, which suffered from decreased oxygen content.

The researchers found that after two months of pumping, higher oxygen concentrations became detectable in the bottom waters. Bacteria that needed oxygen began to appear in the fjord's bottom waters and the entire water column began to look healthier. That said, the researchers aren't sure if oxygen levels in the fjord will begin to fall again in the future.

"The bacterial communities in the Baltic Sea are very similar to those in Byfjord before the fjord was aerated," said Michael Forth and Alexander Treusch, two of the researchers, in a news release. "So it is fair to imagine that the same change in the bacterial community will take place in the Baltic Sea if we start to pump oxygen-rich water down to the bottom waters of the Baltic Sea. This is an idea our Swedish colleagues are investigating further."

The findings are published in The ISME Journal: Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology.

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