Antarctic Slope Current in a Changing Climate
The Antarctic Slope Current (ASC) is a coherent circulation feature that rings the Antarctic continental shelf and regulates the flow of water toward the Antarctic coastline. The structure and variability of the ASC influences key processes near the Antarctic coastline that have global implications,...
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American Geophysical Union
2018
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ftcaltechauth:oai:authors.library.caltech.edu:92554 2023-05-15T14:01:44+02:00 Antarctic Slope Current in a Changing Climate Thompson, Andrew F. Stewart, Andrew L. Spence, Paul Heywood, Karen J. 2018-12 application/pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/92554/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/92554/1/Thompson_et_al-2018-Reviews_of_Geophysics.pdf https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20190201-085844364 en eng American Geophysical Union https://authors.library.caltech.edu/92554/1/Thompson_et_al-2018-Reviews_of_Geophysics.pdf Thompson, Andrew F. and Stewart, Andrew L. and Spence, Paul and Heywood, Karen J. (2018) Antarctic Slope Current in a Changing Climate. Reviews of Geophysics, 56 (4). pp. 741-770. ISSN 8755-1209. doi:10.1029/2018rg000624. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20190201-085844364 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20190201-085844364> other Article PeerReviewed 2018 ftcaltechauth https://doi.org/10.1029/2018rg000624 2021-11-18T18:49:19Z The Antarctic Slope Current (ASC) is a coherent circulation feature that rings the Antarctic continental shelf and regulates the flow of water toward the Antarctic coastline. The structure and variability of the ASC influences key processes near the Antarctic coastline that have global implications, such as the melting of Antarctic ice shelves and water mass formation that determines the strength of the global overturning circulation. Recent theoretical, modeling, and observational advances have revealed new dynamical properties of the ASC, making it timely to review. Earlier reviews of the ASC focused largely on local classifications of water properties of the ASC's primary front. Here we instead provide a classification of the current's frontal structure based on the dynamical mechanisms that govern both the along‐slope and cross‐slope circulation; these two modes of circulation are strongly coupled, similar to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Highly variable motions, such as dense overflows, tides, and eddies are shown to be critical components of cross‐slope and cross‐shelf exchange, but understanding of how the distribution and intensity of these processes will evolve in a changing climate remains poor due to observational and modeling limitations. Results linking the ASC to larger modes of climate variability, such as El Niño, show that the ASC is an integral part of global climate. An improved dynamical understanding of the ASC is still needed to accurately model and predict future Antarctic sea ice extent, the stability of the Antarctic ice sheets, and the Southern Ocean's contribution to the global carbon cycle. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Ice Shelves Sea ice Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) Antarctic The Antarctic Reviews of Geophysics 56 4 741 770 |
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Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) |
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ftcaltechauth |
language |
English |
description |
The Antarctic Slope Current (ASC) is a coherent circulation feature that rings the Antarctic continental shelf and regulates the flow of water toward the Antarctic coastline. The structure and variability of the ASC influences key processes near the Antarctic coastline that have global implications, such as the melting of Antarctic ice shelves and water mass formation that determines the strength of the global overturning circulation. Recent theoretical, modeling, and observational advances have revealed new dynamical properties of the ASC, making it timely to review. Earlier reviews of the ASC focused largely on local classifications of water properties of the ASC's primary front. Here we instead provide a classification of the current's frontal structure based on the dynamical mechanisms that govern both the along‐slope and cross‐slope circulation; these two modes of circulation are strongly coupled, similar to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Highly variable motions, such as dense overflows, tides, and eddies are shown to be critical components of cross‐slope and cross‐shelf exchange, but understanding of how the distribution and intensity of these processes will evolve in a changing climate remains poor due to observational and modeling limitations. Results linking the ASC to larger modes of climate variability, such as El Niño, show that the ASC is an integral part of global climate. An improved dynamical understanding of the ASC is still needed to accurately model and predict future Antarctic sea ice extent, the stability of the Antarctic ice sheets, and the Southern Ocean's contribution to the global carbon cycle. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thompson, Andrew F. Stewart, Andrew L. Spence, Paul Heywood, Karen J. |
spellingShingle |
Thompson, Andrew F. Stewart, Andrew L. Spence, Paul Heywood, Karen J. Antarctic Slope Current in a Changing Climate |
author_facet |
Thompson, Andrew F. Stewart, Andrew L. Spence, Paul Heywood, Karen J. |
author_sort |
Thompson, Andrew F. |
title |
Antarctic Slope Current in a Changing Climate |
title_short |
Antarctic Slope Current in a Changing Climate |
title_full |
Antarctic Slope Current in a Changing Climate |
title_fullStr |
Antarctic Slope Current in a Changing Climate |
title_full_unstemmed |
Antarctic Slope Current in a Changing Climate |
title_sort |
antarctic slope current in a changing climate |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/92554/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/92554/1/Thompson_et_al-2018-Reviews_of_Geophysics.pdf https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20190201-085844364 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Shelves Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Shelves Sea ice |
op_relation |
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/92554/1/Thompson_et_al-2018-Reviews_of_Geophysics.pdf Thompson, Andrew F. and Stewart, Andrew L. and Spence, Paul and Heywood, Karen J. (2018) Antarctic Slope Current in a Changing Climate. Reviews of Geophysics, 56 (4). pp. 741-770. ISSN 8755-1209. doi:10.1029/2018rg000624. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20190201-085844364 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20190201-085844364> |
op_rights |
other |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2018rg000624 |
container_title |
Reviews of Geophysics |
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56 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
741 |
op_container_end_page |
770 |
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1766271780146642944 |