What is the Dissolved Oxygen Saturation indicator?
The amount of dissolved oxygen that water can hold depends on both the water temperature and salinity. Warm water holds far less oxygen than cold water (warm water holds less of any gas then cold water). What this means is — in the summer, even if the water is 100% saturated, the amount of oxygen availiable for marine organisms may still not be enough. Occasionally, the water can be supersaturated, that is the percent saturation is over 100%. This would happen if there were a phytoplankton bloom (phytoplankton give off oxygen as they photosynthesize) concurrent with 100% saturated water. Saturation is measured relative to what we would expect for a body of still water that has reached equilibrium with the air.
