Supercooled Southern Ocean Waters
In cold polar waters, temperatures sometimes drop below the freezing point, a process referred to as supercooling. However, observational challenges in polar regions limit our understanding of the spatial and temporal extent of this phenomenon. We here provide observational evidence that supercooled...
Published in: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2761620 https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090242 |
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ftunivbergen:oai:bora.uib.no:11250/2761620 2023-05-15T13:41:10+02:00 Supercooled Southern Ocean Waters Haumann, F. Alexander Moorman, Ruth Riser, Stephen C. Smedsrud, Lars H. Maksym, Ted Wong, Annie P. S. Wilson, Earle A. Drucker, Robert Talley, Lynne D. Johnson, Kenneth S. Key, Robert M. Sarmiento, Jorge L. 2020 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2761620 https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090242 eng eng Wiley urn:issn:0094-8276 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2761620 https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090242 cristin:1878302 Geophysical Research Letters. 2020, 47 (20), e2020GL090242. Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no Copyright 2020. The Authors. e2020GL090242 Geophysical Research Letters 47 20 Journal article Peer reviewed 2020 ftunivbergen https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090242 2023-03-14T17:42:49Z In cold polar waters, temperatures sometimes drop below the freezing point, a process referred to as supercooling. However, observational challenges in polar regions limit our understanding of the spatial and temporal extent of this phenomenon. We here provide observational evidence that supercooled waters are much more widespread in the seasonally ice-covered Southern Ocean than previously reported. In 5.8% of all analyzed hydrographic profiles south of 55°S, we find temperatures below the surface freezing point (“potential” supercooling), and half of these have temperatures below the local freezing point (“in situ” supercooling). Their occurrence doubles when neglecting measurement uncertainties. We attribute deep coastal-ocean supercooling to melting of Antarctic ice shelves and surface-induced supercooling in the seasonal sea-ice region to wintertime sea-ice formation. The latter supercooling type can extend down to the permanent pycnocline due to convective sinking plumes—an important mechanism for vertical tracer transport and water-mass structure in the polar ocean. publishedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Ice Shelves Sea ice Southern Ocean University of Bergen: Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA-UiB) Antarctic Southern Ocean Geophysical Research Letters 47 20 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Bergen: Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA-UiB) |
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ftunivbergen |
language |
English |
description |
In cold polar waters, temperatures sometimes drop below the freezing point, a process referred to as supercooling. However, observational challenges in polar regions limit our understanding of the spatial and temporal extent of this phenomenon. We here provide observational evidence that supercooled waters are much more widespread in the seasonally ice-covered Southern Ocean than previously reported. In 5.8% of all analyzed hydrographic profiles south of 55°S, we find temperatures below the surface freezing point (“potential” supercooling), and half of these have temperatures below the local freezing point (“in situ” supercooling). Their occurrence doubles when neglecting measurement uncertainties. We attribute deep coastal-ocean supercooling to melting of Antarctic ice shelves and surface-induced supercooling in the seasonal sea-ice region to wintertime sea-ice formation. The latter supercooling type can extend down to the permanent pycnocline due to convective sinking plumes—an important mechanism for vertical tracer transport and water-mass structure in the polar ocean. publishedVersion |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Haumann, F. Alexander Moorman, Ruth Riser, Stephen C. Smedsrud, Lars H. Maksym, Ted Wong, Annie P. S. Wilson, Earle A. Drucker, Robert Talley, Lynne D. Johnson, Kenneth S. Key, Robert M. Sarmiento, Jorge L. |
spellingShingle |
Haumann, F. Alexander Moorman, Ruth Riser, Stephen C. Smedsrud, Lars H. Maksym, Ted Wong, Annie P. S. Wilson, Earle A. Drucker, Robert Talley, Lynne D. Johnson, Kenneth S. Key, Robert M. Sarmiento, Jorge L. Supercooled Southern Ocean Waters |
author_facet |
Haumann, F. Alexander Moorman, Ruth Riser, Stephen C. Smedsrud, Lars H. Maksym, Ted Wong, Annie P. S. Wilson, Earle A. Drucker, Robert Talley, Lynne D. Johnson, Kenneth S. Key, Robert M. Sarmiento, Jorge L. |
author_sort |
Haumann, F. Alexander |
title |
Supercooled Southern Ocean Waters |
title_short |
Supercooled Southern Ocean Waters |
title_full |
Supercooled Southern Ocean Waters |
title_fullStr |
Supercooled Southern Ocean Waters |
title_full_unstemmed |
Supercooled Southern Ocean Waters |
title_sort |
supercooled southern ocean waters |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2761620 https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090242 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Shelves Sea ice Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Shelves Sea ice Southern Ocean |
op_source |
e2020GL090242 Geophysical Research Letters 47 20 |
op_relation |
urn:issn:0094-8276 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2761620 https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090242 cristin:1878302 Geophysical Research Letters. 2020, 47 (20), e2020GL090242. |
op_rights |
Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no Copyright 2020. The Authors. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090242 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
container_volume |
47 |
container_issue |
20 |
_version_ |
1766146354513444864 |