Wintertime ocean conditions over the southern Weddell Sea continental shelf, Antarctica

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Nicholls, Keith W., Boehme, Lars, Biuw, Erik Martin, Fedak, Michael A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: RONNE ICE SHELF; CIRCULATION; BEHAVIOR; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Shelf; Ronne Ice Shelf; Weddell Sea; Weddell Seal
• Online Access: https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/wintertime-ocean-conditions-over-the-southern-weddell-sea-continental-shelf-antarctica(88ce37b0-d3ac-428e-b6e8-0ef0bccaf637).html; https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL035742; http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=58849089990&partnerID=8YFLogxK

During the austral winter of 2007 a Weddell Seal tagged with a miniaturized conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) instrument travelled over the central southern Weddell Sea continental shelf. The instrument yielded 750 CTD profiles, 250 of them to the sea floor. The data show a full depth flow of water onto the shelf via a sill at the shelf break (74 degrees S 44 degrees W). The warmth from the core of the flow was able to maintain the surface mixed layer above the freezing point, resulting in a band of reduced ice-production. An estimate of the on-shelf flux suggests that this flow accounts for most of the estimated 3 Sv of water draining from the southern Weddell Sea continental shelf. Citation: Nicholls, K. W., L. Boehme, M. Biuw, and M. A. Fedak (2008), Wintertime ocean conditions over the southern Weddell Sea continental shelf, Antarctica, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L21605, doi:10.1029/2008GL035742.