FORUM BACKGROUND

The area of interest lies south of and shallower than the 3000-m isobath, which is the dividing line between the lower continental slope and the deep ocean. This boundary extends from 69°S, 170°E (off Cape Adare, Victoria Land) to 76°S, 155°W (off King Edward VII Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land). Include...

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Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2002
Subjects:
THE ROSS SEA
ANTARCTICA
WHERE ALL ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES STILL REMAIN FOR STUDY
BUT MAYBE NOT FOR LONG D.G. AINLEY
Adare
Byrd
Cape Adare
Edward VII Peninsula
Iselin Bank
Marie Byrd Land
Ross Sea
Victoria Land
Weddell
Weddell Sea
Antarc*
Antarctica
Sea ice
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.668.4219
http://marineornithology.org/PDF/30_2/1_ainley.pdf
Description
Summary:The area of interest lies south of and shallower than the 3000-m isobath, which is the dividing line between the lower continental slope and the deep ocean. This boundary extends from 69°S, 170°E (off Cape Adare, Victoria Land) to 76°S, 155°W (off King Edward VII Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land). Included is a northward bend of the isobath, around Iselin Bank, to about 69°S, 175°W. This region, which is about 598 000 km2, includes the continen-tal slope (500–3000 m) and the continental shelf of the Ross Sea (Fig. 1). Ichii et al. (1998) also included both the slope and the shelf to define the ‘Ross Sea’. Except for coastal polynyas, the Ross Sea is completely covered by sea ice from about April through October; its eastern portion remains covered throughout the year. The Ross Sea Shelf Ecosystem (RSShelfE) is one of the few remaining Large Marine Ecosystems (LME; sensu Sherman et al. 1990, 1993) where human influences have been minimal. There-fore, neither top-down nor bottom-up forcing mechanisms have been compromised. The RSShelfE may be the last LME on Earth (except perhaps the Weddell Sea elsewhere in Antarctica and

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