Reprinted from Oceanology of the

Abstract. The Ter~a Nova Bay polynya is a large, stable, annually recu~ring feature in the western Ross Sea which ma~kedly influences sea ice dynamics and physical oceanography in that region. St~ong, pe~sistent katabatic winds which blow far offshore, and blockage of northward drift i ng sea ice by...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Amarcric Cominenral Shelf, Dennis D. Ku~tz, David H. B~omwich
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Subjects:
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.669.4024
http://polarmet.osu.edu/PMG_publications/kurtz_bromwich_agu_1985.pdf
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Summary:Abstract. The Ter~a Nova Bay polynya is a large, stable, annually recu~ring feature in the western Ross Sea which ma~kedly influences sea ice dynamics and physical oceanography in that region. St~ong, pe~sistent katabatic winds which blow far offshore, and blockage of northward drift i ng sea ice by the Drygalski Ice Tongue are both necessary for polynya ex-istence. Secondary factors, such as katabatic and synoptic wind interactions, and seawater depth, characteristics and circulation also affect the polynya. However, it is the ab-sence of this katabatic-blocking combination along other windy coasts that explains why similar polynyas do not form there. Direct