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1. Detecting Mesopelagic Organisms Using Biogeochemical‐Argo Floats

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL086088  

   Haëntjens, Nils; Della Penna, Alice; Briggs, Nathan; Karp‐Boss, Lee; Gaube, Peter; Claustre, Hervé; Boss, Emmanuel (March 2020, Geophysical Research Letters)

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2. Barite Precipitation on Suspended Organic Matter in the Mesopelagic Zone

   https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.567714  

   Martinez-Ruiz, F.; Paytan, A.; Gonzalez-Muñoz, M. T.; Jroundi, F.; Abad, M. M.; Lam, P. J.; Horner, T. J.; Kastner, M. (October 2020, Frontiers in Earth Science)

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3. Projected 21st century compression of mesopelagic habitat in the California current

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-10992-1  

   Iglesias, Ilysa S; Fiechter, Jerome (December 2025, Scientific Reports)

   Abstract Although the mesopelagic zone occupies a substantial volume of the world’s oceans, our results suggest that the livable portion may compress vertically by ~ 40 m or ~ 39% by the end of the century. Using an ensemble of three downscaled climate projections from a high emissions scenario, we evaluated the connection between anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and changes in light and oxygen at depth, which influence the upper and lower limits of mesopelagic habitat in the central California Current. Although the model projects a small deepening (~ 2 m) of the upper light boundary consistent with increased stratification and reduced upper ocean productivity, the main driver of vertical mesopelagic habitat compression is the significant shoaling (by ~ 44 m) of the hypoxic boundary over the course of the 21st century. Differences in dissolved oxygen across ensemble members highlight the potential influence of equatorial dynamics and the California Undercurrent in constraining the future availability of mesopelagic habitat along the U.S. west coast. Mesopelagic ecosystems connect the surface ocean to the deep sea, and a projected decrease in the vertical extent of mesopelagic habitat could have cascading effects on a broader range of marine ecosystem processes and carbon export. 

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4. Abundant nitrite-oxidizing metalloenzymes in the mesopelagic zone of the tropical Pacific Ocean

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-020-0565-6  

   Saito, Mak A.; McIlvin, Matthew R.; Moran, Dawn M.; Santoro, Alyson E.; Dupont, Chris L.; Rafter, Patrick A.; Saunders, Jaclyn K.; Kaul, Drishti; Lamborg, Carl H.; Westley, Marian; et al (May 2020, Nature Geoscience)
5. Emerging investigator series: toward the ultimate limit of seawater desalination with mesopelagic open reverse osmosis

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EW00153A  

   Lin, Shihong; Veerapaneni, Srinivas (July 2021, Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology)

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   Seawater desalination has become an important tool to attain global water security and sustainability. Among the available technologies, reverse osmosis (RO) has become the golden standard for seawater desalination due to its unparalleled energy efficiency. While RO is already efficient after development for half a century, there remains room for over 50% further reduction in energy consumption that can translate into tens of terawatt hours of potential annual energy saving. However, this significant energy saving cannot be achieved under the conventional paradigm of on-ground RO. In this analysis, we assess the idea of operating RO with open modules several hundred meters below the ocean surface ( i.e. , the mesopelagic zone). This new process, namely mesopelagic open reverse osmosis (MORO), can potentially push the energy consumption of seawater desalination to its theoretical limit. We first describe the concept of MORO, and then examine both the theoretical potential of energy saving and the practical challenges facing the implementation of MORO. Our analysis provides a theoretical framework for the future development of MORO for more sustainable desalination. 

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