Water masses distribution offshore the Sabrina Coast (East Antarctica)
<p>Current glacier melt rates in West Antarctica substantially exceed those around the East Antarctic margin. The exception is Wilkes Land, where for example Totten Glacier underwent significant retreat between 2000 and 2012, underlining its sensitivity to climate change. This process is stron...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Earth System Science Data |
| Online Access: | https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/14/65/2022/essd-14-65-2022.pdf |
| Summary: | <p>Current glacier melt rates in West Antarctica substantially exceed those
around the East Antarctic margin. The exception is Wilkes Land, where for example
Totten Glacier underwent significant retreat between 2000 and 2012,
underlining its sensitivity to climate change. This process is strongly
influenced by ocean dynamics, which in turn changes in accordance with the
evolution of the ice caps. Here, we present new oceanographic data
(temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen) collected during austral
summer 2017 offshore the Sabrina Coast (East Antarctica) from the
continental shelf break to ca 3000 m depth. This area is characterized by
very few oceanographic in situ observations.</p>
<p>The main water masses of the study area, identified by analysing
thermohaline properties, are the Antarctic Surface Water with potential
temperature <span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mi mathvariant="italic">θ</mi><mo>></mo><mo>-</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">1.5</mn></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="44pt" height="10pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="caccfa695506de7927e75b9421089baa"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="essd-14-65-2022-ie00001.svg" width="44pt" height="10pt" src="essd-14-65-2022-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> <span class="inline-formula"><sup>∘</sup>C</span> and salinity <span class="inline-formula"><i>S</i><34.2</span> (<span class="inline-formula"><i>σ</i><sub><i>θ</i></sub><27.55</span> <span class="inline-formula">kg m<sup>−3</sup></span>), the
Winter Water with <span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M6" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mo>-</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">1.92</mn><mo><</mo><mi mathvariant="italic">θ</mi><mo><</mo><mo>-</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">1.75</mn></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="92pt" height="10pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="258e21c994c90d7dfec658815beb8a9d"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="essd-14-65-2022-ie00002.svg" width="92pt" height="10pt" src="essd-14-65-2022-ie00002.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> <span class="inline-formula"><sup>∘</sup>C</span>
and <span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M8" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mn mathvariant="normal">34.0</mn><mo><</mo><mi>S</mi><mo><</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">34.5</mn></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="77pt" height="10pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="2bf1ee92c0fe9bda93735af0d9f0d025"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="essd-14-65-2022-ie00003.svg" width="77pt" height="10pt" src="essd-14-65-2022-ie00003.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> (potential density, <span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M9" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mn mathvariant="normal">27.55</mn><mo><</mo><msub><mi mathvariant="italic">σ</mi><mi mathvariant="italic">θ</mi></msub><mo><</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">27.7</mn></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="88pt" height="12pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="ef1b0d12ceeab0dc8e76ecf9f5cea760"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="essd-14-65-2022-ie00004.svg" width="88pt" height="12pt" src="essd-14-65-2022-ie00004.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> <span class="inline-formula">kg m<sup>−3</sup></span>), the modified Circumpolar
Deep Water with <span class="inline-formula"><i>θ</i>>0</span> <span class="inline-formula"><sup>∘</sup>C</span> and <span class="inline-formula"><i>S</i>>34.5</span> (<span class="inline-formula"><i>σ</i><sub><i>θ</i></sub>>27.7</span> <span class="inline-formula">kg m<sup>−3</sup></span>), and Antarctic
Bottom Water with <span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M16" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mo>-</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">0.50</mn><mo><</mo><mi mathvariant="italic">θ</mi><mo><</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">0</mn></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="69pt" height="10pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="d29691cb7c216a385b35d4beb011d71c"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="essd-14-65-2022-ie00005.svg" width="69pt" height="10pt" src="essd-14-65-2022-ie00005.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> <span class="inline-formula"><sup>∘</sup>C</span> and
<span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M18" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mn mathvariant="normal">34.63</mn><mo><</mo><mi>S</mi><mo><</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">34.67</mn></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="90pt" height="10pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="0bd0ba992237c436fbf9938c58339ca9"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="essd-14-65-2022-ie00006.svg" width="90pt" height="10pt" src="essd-14-65-2022-ie00006.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> (<span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M19" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mn mathvariant="normal">27.83</mn><mo><</mo><msub><mi mathvariant="italic">σ</mi><mi mathvariant="italic">θ</mi></msub><mo><</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">27.85</mn></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="94pt" height="12pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="b25e6c65a2e4bbfc15ac931575a47e97"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="essd-14-65-2022-ie00007.svg" width="94pt" height="12pt" src="essd-14-65-2022-ie00007.png"/></svg:svg></span></span>; neutral density <span class="inline-formula"><i>γ</i><sup>n</sup>>28.30</span> <span class="inline-formula">kg m<sup>−3</sup></span>). The latter is a mixture of dense waters from the Ross Sea and
Adélie Land continental shelves. Such waters are influenced by the
mixing processes they undergo as they move westward along the Antarctic
margin, also interacting with the warmer Circumpolar Deep Water.</p>
<p>The spatial distribution of water masses offshore the Sabrina Coast also
appears to be strongly linked with the complex morpho-bathymetry of the
slope and rise area, supporting the hypothesis that downslope processes
contribute to shaping the architecture of the distal portion of the
continental margin.</p>
<p>Oceanographic data presented here can be downloaded from
<a href="https://doi.org/10.25919/yyex-t381">https://doi.org/10.25919/yyex-t381</a> (CSIRO; Van Graas, 2021).</p> |
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| ISSN: | 1866-3508 1866-3516 |