The Antarctica Peninsula, the Falklands, and South Georgia

• Main Author: Summerhayes, Colin
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University PressNew York 2023
• Subjects: Antarctic; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Drake Passage; Amundsen Sea; Bransfield Strait; Weddell; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Shelves; Iceberg*; Sea ice; Weddell Seals
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197627983.003.0005; https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/58047870/oso-9780197627983-chapter-5.pdf

Abstract The Antarctic Peninsula is an island arc flanked by a deep ocean trench. Volcanism is active in the Bransfield Strait, a back-arc basin. The arc is a continuation of the Andes, broken by the Drake Passage. Lying north of the Antarctic Circle, the peninsula is the warmest part of the continent, largely because it is bathed by warm winds from the north that circulate around the Amundsen Sea low pressure center. In 1950–2000 the peninsula warmed by c.2.5°C (4.5°F). It cooled slightly in 2000–2014, when local winds turned easterly, but is now warming again. Glaciers are shrinking and sea ice is disappearing down the west coast; ice shelves are disappearing down the east coast. Where sea ice disappeared, Adélie penguins declined; other species thrived, including Elephant and Weddell seals. Easterly winds blow icebergs into the Southern Ocean through Iceberg Alley along the peninsula’s east coast, but icebergs are rare on its west coast north of 65°N.