The large marine ecosystem in the Eastern Tropical North Atlantic (ETNA) off West Africa is among the most productive, diverse, and economically important marine regions worldwide due to a strong ocean-atmosphere coupling. Massive amounts of Saharan dust are deposited every year onto the sea, fuelling biological productivity in the ocean. But other major ocean processes are at work here too. The coastal upwelling system off West Africa – where cold, nutrient-rich waters well up from ocean depths – also feeds the marine ecosystem, and the seamounts around Cabo Verde are hotspots of marine biodiversity.

However, a harmful oxygen minimum zone exists in the ocean’s interior, which in the Atlantic is not yet as pronounced as its counterparts in the Pacific and Indian oceans, but in recent decades has shown trends of expansion and could become a challenge for marine life in the region.

Boundary of the iAtlantic study region: 6. Eastern Tropical North Atlantic, Cabo Verde

The boundary if Region #6 was expanded to the West and the name was adjusted to capture the offical name of the country Cabo VerdeHWU noted the region bounda...