Physical oceanography from the northwestern Weddell Sea ...

• Main Authors: Hellmer, Hartmut H, Huhn, Oliver, Gomis, Damià, Timmermann, Ralph
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2011
• Subjects: CTD/Rosette; Multiple investigations; CTD/Rosette, ultra clean; ATOS2; ANT-VIII/2; ANT-IX/2; ANT-X/7; ANT-XIII/4; ANT-XV/4; ANT-XXIII/7; ANT-XXIV/3; Hespérides; Polarstern; Priority Programme 1158 Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas SPP1158; Arctic; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Weddell Sea; Austral; Bransfield Strait; Weddell; Central Basin; Antarc*; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.761004; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.761004

We analyzed hydrographic data from the northwestern Weddell Sea continental shelf of the three austral winters 1989, 1997, and 2006 and two summers following the last winter cruise. During summer a thermal front exists at ~64° S separating cold southern waters from warm northern waters that have similar characteristics as the deep waters of the central basin of the Bransfield Strait. In winter, the whole continental shelf exhibits southern characteristics with high Neon (Ne) concentrations, indicating a significant input of glacial melt water. The comparison of the winter data from the shallow shelf off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, spanning a period of 17 yr, shows a salinity decrease of 0.09 for the whole water column, which has a residence time of <1 yr. We interpret this freshening as being caused by a combination of reduced salt input due to a southward sea ice retreat and higher precipitation during the late 20th century on the western Weddell Sea continental shelf. However, less ... : See additional datasets from other publicationsANT-XXIII/8 - doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.735531; ANT-XXII/2 (ISPOL) - doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.742627; NBP97-05 - doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.761002 ...