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Repeated occupations of two hydrographic sections in the southwest Pacific basin from the 1990s to 2000s track property changes of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW). The largest property changes-warming, freshening, increase in total carbon, and decrease in oxygen-are found near the basin's deep western boundary between 50° and 20°S. The magnitude of the property changes decreases with increasing distance from the western boundary. At the deep western boundary, analysis of the relative importance of AABW (n >28.1 kgm^-3) freshening, heating, or isopycnal heave suggests that the deep ocean stratification change is the result of both warming and freshening processes. The consistent deep ocean changes near the western boundary of the southwest Pacific basin dispel the notion that the deep oceans quiescent. High-latitude climate variability is being directly transmitted into the deep southwest Pacific basin and the global deep ocean through dynamic deep western boundary currents.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Antarctic bottom water, climate variability, deep ocean, deep western boundary currents, property changes, South Pacific Oceans, total carbon, western boundary
Research Division:	Earth Sciences
Research Group:	Oceanography
Research Field:	Physical oceanography
Objective Division:	Environmental Management
Objective Group:	Marine systems and management
Objective Field:	Oceanic processes (excl. in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean)
UTAS Author:	Tilbrook, B (Dr Bronte Tilbrook)
ID Code:	118974
Year Published:	2013
Web of Science® Times Cited:	22
Deposited By:	Zoology
Deposited On:	2017-07-24
Last Modified:	2017-10-24
Downloads:	136 View Download Statistics