Dense shelf water spreading from Antarctic coastal polynyas to the deep Southern Ocean: a regional circumpolar model study
The spreading of Dense Shelf Water (DSW) from Antarctic coastal margins to lower latitudes plays a vital role in the ocean thermohaline circulation and the global climate system. Through enhanced localized sea ice production in Antarctic coastal polynyas, cold and saline DSW is formed over the conti...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC012911 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/119352 |
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:119352 2023-05-15T13:49:03+02:00 Dense shelf water spreading from Antarctic coastal polynyas to the deep Southern Ocean: a regional circumpolar model study Kusahara, K Williams, GD Tamura, T Massom, R Hasumi, H 2017 https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC012911 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/119352 en eng Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Inc. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2017JC012911 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT130100692 Kusahara, K and Williams, GD and Tamura, T and Massom, R and Hasumi, H, Dense shelf water spreading from Antarctic coastal polynyas to the deep Southern Ocean: a regional circumpolar model study, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 122, (8) pp. 6238-6253. ISSN 2169-9275 (2017) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/119352 Earth Sciences Oceanography Physical Oceanography Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC012911 2019-12-13T22:18:35Z The spreading of Dense Shelf Water (DSW) from Antarctic coastal margins to lower latitudes plays a vital role in the ocean thermohaline circulation and the global climate system. Through enhanced localized sea ice production in Antarctic coastal polynyas, cold and saline DSW is formed over the continental shelf regions as a precursor to Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW). However, the detailed fate of coastal DSW over the Southern Ocean is still unclear. Here, we conduct extensive passive tracer experiments using a circumpolar ocean-sea ice-ice shelf model to investigate pathways of the regional polynya-based DSW from the Antarctic margins to the deep Southern Ocean basins. In the numerical experiments, the Antarctic coastal margin is divided into nine regions, and a passive tracer is released from each region at the same rate as the local sea ice production. The modeled spatial distribution of the total concentration of the nine tracers is consistent with the observed AABW distribution and clearly demonstrates nine routes of the DSW over the Southern Ocean along its bottom topography. Furthermore, the model shows that while ∼50% of the total tracer is distributed northwards from the continental shelf to the deep ocean, ∼7% is transported polewards beneath ice shelf cavities. The comprehensive tracer experiments allow us to estimate the contribution of local DSW to the total concentration along each of the pathways. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Ice Shelf Sea ice Southern Ocean eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 122 8 6238 6253 |
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Open Polar |
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eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
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ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth Sciences Oceanography Physical Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Earth Sciences Oceanography Physical Oceanography Kusahara, K Williams, GD Tamura, T Massom, R Hasumi, H Dense shelf water spreading from Antarctic coastal polynyas to the deep Southern Ocean: a regional circumpolar model study |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences Oceanography Physical Oceanography |
description |
The spreading of Dense Shelf Water (DSW) from Antarctic coastal margins to lower latitudes plays a vital role in the ocean thermohaline circulation and the global climate system. Through enhanced localized sea ice production in Antarctic coastal polynyas, cold and saline DSW is formed over the continental shelf regions as a precursor to Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW). However, the detailed fate of coastal DSW over the Southern Ocean is still unclear. Here, we conduct extensive passive tracer experiments using a circumpolar ocean-sea ice-ice shelf model to investigate pathways of the regional polynya-based DSW from the Antarctic margins to the deep Southern Ocean basins. In the numerical experiments, the Antarctic coastal margin is divided into nine regions, and a passive tracer is released from each region at the same rate as the local sea ice production. The modeled spatial distribution of the total concentration of the nine tracers is consistent with the observed AABW distribution and clearly demonstrates nine routes of the DSW over the Southern Ocean along its bottom topography. Furthermore, the model shows that while ∼50% of the total tracer is distributed northwards from the continental shelf to the deep ocean, ∼7% is transported polewards beneath ice shelf cavities. The comprehensive tracer experiments allow us to estimate the contribution of local DSW to the total concentration along each of the pathways. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kusahara, K Williams, GD Tamura, T Massom, R Hasumi, H |
author_facet |
Kusahara, K Williams, GD Tamura, T Massom, R Hasumi, H |
author_sort |
Kusahara, K |
title |
Dense shelf water spreading from Antarctic coastal polynyas to the deep Southern Ocean: a regional circumpolar model study |
title_short |
Dense shelf water spreading from Antarctic coastal polynyas to the deep Southern Ocean: a regional circumpolar model study |
title_full |
Dense shelf water spreading from Antarctic coastal polynyas to the deep Southern Ocean: a regional circumpolar model study |
title_fullStr |
Dense shelf water spreading from Antarctic coastal polynyas to the deep Southern Ocean: a regional circumpolar model study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Dense shelf water spreading from Antarctic coastal polynyas to the deep Southern Ocean: a regional circumpolar model study |
title_sort |
dense shelf water spreading from antarctic coastal polynyas to the deep southern ocean: a regional circumpolar model study |
publisher |
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Inc. |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC012911 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/119352 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Shelf Sea ice Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Shelf Sea ice Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2017JC012911 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT130100692 Kusahara, K and Williams, GD and Tamura, T and Massom, R and Hasumi, H, Dense shelf water spreading from Antarctic coastal polynyas to the deep Southern Ocean: a regional circumpolar model study, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 122, (8) pp. 6238-6253. ISSN 2169-9275 (2017) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/119352 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC012911 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
container_volume |
122 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
6238 |
op_container_end_page |
6253 |
_version_ |
1766250718189060096 |