Dynamical Response of the Arabian Sea Oxygen Minimum Zone to the Extreme Indian Ocean Dipole Events

The Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) has a significant impact on the global atmospheric circulation and contributes to determining important aspects of local and global environments. Although the IOD events can significantly cause SST anomalies and chlorophyll fluctuations in the western Indian Ocean, there is still very little known about the interannual variability of the Arabian Sea oxygen minimum zone (ASOMZ) under the influence of these remote forcing processes. In this study, a coupled physical-biogeochemical numerical model was used to investigate the dynamical response of the ASOMZ to extreme negative (2016) and positive (2019) IOD events. Our findings revealed that the suboxic area of the ASOMZ reduced (expanded) by about 27% (about 28%) after the negative (positive) IOD event. Compared to the 2019 pIOD event, approximately 2.5 times more oxygen-rich water was delivered into the Arabian Sea during the 2016 nIOD event, replenishing dissolved oxygen (DO) consumed by intensified upwelling-induced enhanced remineralization of particulate organic matter (POM), thereby increasing the DO concentration in the Gulf of Aden. Conversely, more POM from the upwelling regions in the western Arabian Sea was transported to the central Arabian Sea, leading to a subsequent decrease in DO concentration there. These findings contributed to our understanding of the ASOMZ's response to IOD events, which is essential for studying the Arabian Sea's marine ecosystem.