Why does the concentration of dissolved oxygen decreases with depth and carbon dioxide increases with depth?


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High concentrations of oxygen at the surface are usually byproducts of photosynthesis in the ocean's brightly lit upper layer. Because plants and other photosynthetic organisms require CO2 for metabolism, surface CO2 concentrations tend to be low. A decrease in oxygen below the sunlit upper layer is usually due to the respiration of bacteria and marine animals, which leads to higher concentrations of CO2.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

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