Dense Shelf Water properties and current velocity observations from a moored observatory in the Ross Sea
Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) supplies the lower branch of the global overturning circulation and ventilates the abyssal ocean. Changes in AABW properties and formation rate propagate into the global ocean and affect stratification, sea level, heat content, and the carbon cycle. Approximately 25% of...
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ftgfzpotsdam:oai:gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de:item_5021374 2023-07-30T03:56:48+02:00 Dense Shelf Water properties and current velocity observations from a moored observatory in the Ross Sea Castagno, P. Falco, P. Krauzig, N. Garzia, A. Memmola, F. Cotroneo, Y. Budillon, G. 2023-07-11 https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5021374 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.57757/IUGG23-4975 https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5021374 XXVIII General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) info:eu-repo/semantics/conferenceObject 2023 ftgfzpotsdam https://doi.org/10.57757/IUGG23-4975 2023-07-09T23:40:20Z Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) supplies the lower branch of the global overturning circulation and ventilates the abyssal ocean. Changes in AABW properties and formation rate propagate into the global ocean and affect stratification, sea level, heat content, and the carbon cycle. Approximately 25% of AABW originates from the Dense Shelf Water (DSW) produced on the Ross Sea continental shelf. Understanding the long-term variability of the Ross Sea DSW physical properties and its controlling factors is critical to assessing the AABW variability. Here we use an unprecedented 28 years of current velocity and hydrographic observations collected from a mooring situated in Terra Nova Bay (TNB), where the saltiest DSW is produced. We used these time series to analyze the ocean currents in relation to dense water formation. While recent studies have suggested that the tides are the dominant source of currents close to the Ross Sea shelf break, here we observe a negligible contribution of the tide to the total velocity. We find a strong seasonal variability with a strong barotropic (from 140 m to the bottom) along trough (north-eastward) flow during August to October at the peak of dense water formation, suggesting a correlation between the flow rate at the mooring and the DSW production. Moreover, to investigate the relationship between the dense water production and the AABW outflow from the continental shelf, we have also compared the TNB mooring observations to the time series registered close to the shelf break. Conference Object Antarc* Antarctic Ross Sea GFZpublic (German Research Centre for Geosciences, Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam) Antarctic Ross Sea Terra Nova Bay |
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Open Polar |
collection |
GFZpublic (German Research Centre for Geosciences, Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam) |
op_collection_id |
ftgfzpotsdam |
language |
English |
description |
Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) supplies the lower branch of the global overturning circulation and ventilates the abyssal ocean. Changes in AABW properties and formation rate propagate into the global ocean and affect stratification, sea level, heat content, and the carbon cycle. Approximately 25% of AABW originates from the Dense Shelf Water (DSW) produced on the Ross Sea continental shelf. Understanding the long-term variability of the Ross Sea DSW physical properties and its controlling factors is critical to assessing the AABW variability. Here we use an unprecedented 28 years of current velocity and hydrographic observations collected from a mooring situated in Terra Nova Bay (TNB), where the saltiest DSW is produced. We used these time series to analyze the ocean currents in relation to dense water formation. While recent studies have suggested that the tides are the dominant source of currents close to the Ross Sea shelf break, here we observe a negligible contribution of the tide to the total velocity. We find a strong seasonal variability with a strong barotropic (from 140 m to the bottom) along trough (north-eastward) flow during August to October at the peak of dense water formation, suggesting a correlation between the flow rate at the mooring and the DSW production. Moreover, to investigate the relationship between the dense water production and the AABW outflow from the continental shelf, we have also compared the TNB mooring observations to the time series registered close to the shelf break. |
format |
Conference Object |
author |
Castagno, P. Falco, P. Krauzig, N. Garzia, A. Memmola, F. Cotroneo, Y. Budillon, G. |
spellingShingle |
Castagno, P. Falco, P. Krauzig, N. Garzia, A. Memmola, F. Cotroneo, Y. Budillon, G. Dense Shelf Water properties and current velocity observations from a moored observatory in the Ross Sea |
author_facet |
Castagno, P. Falco, P. Krauzig, N. Garzia, A. Memmola, F. Cotroneo, Y. Budillon, G. |
author_sort |
Castagno, P. |
title |
Dense Shelf Water properties and current velocity observations from a moored observatory in the Ross Sea |
title_short |
Dense Shelf Water properties and current velocity observations from a moored observatory in the Ross Sea |
title_full |
Dense Shelf Water properties and current velocity observations from a moored observatory in the Ross Sea |
title_fullStr |
Dense Shelf Water properties and current velocity observations from a moored observatory in the Ross Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Dense Shelf Water properties and current velocity observations from a moored observatory in the Ross Sea |
title_sort |
dense shelf water properties and current velocity observations from a moored observatory in the ross sea |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5021374 |
geographic |
Antarctic Ross Sea Terra Nova Bay |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Ross Sea Terra Nova Bay |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ross Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ross Sea |
op_source |
XXVIII General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.57757/IUGG23-4975 https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5021374 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.57757/IUGG23-4975 |
_version_ |
1772814689153056768 |