Bottom water formation and polynyas in Adelie Land, Antarctica

• Published in: Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania
• Main Authors: Bindoff, NL, Rintoul, SR, Massom, RA
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2000
• Subjects: Royal Society of Tasmania; RST; Van Diemens Land; natural history; science; ecology; taxonomy; botany; zoology; geology; geography; papers & proceedings; Australia; UTAS Library; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Dumont d'Urville; Dumont-d'Urville; Adelie Land; Antarc*; Antarctica; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://eprints.utas.edu.au/13588/; https://eprints.utas.edu.au/13588/4/2000_Bindoff_Bottom_rst.pdf

Antarctic Bottom Water is the coldest and densest water found in the global ocean. It spreads into all the major ocean basins, carrying the cold water towards the equatorial regions, and is a central component of the global thermo-haline circulation. However, the mechanisms of bottom water formation are not well established; its geographical distribution and rate of formation have yet to be fully quantified. Polynyas, which are large persistent openings in sea-ice that form during the winter near the Antarctic Coast, playa central role in the formation or Antarctic Bottom Water. This paper describes the bottom water formation around the Antarctic continental margin with particular emphasis on the processes and mechanisms of the Adelie Land Bottom Water formation near Dumont D'Urville south of Tasmania.