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Late winter oceanography off the Sabrina and BANZARE coast (117-128°E), East Antarctica
Citation
Williams, GD and Meijers, AJS and Poole, A and Mathiot, P and Tamura, T and Klocker, A, Late winter oceanography off the Sabrina and BANZARE coast (117-128°E), East Antarctica, Deep-Sea Research. Part 2: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 58, (9-10) pp. 1194-1210. ISSN 0967-0645 (2011) [Refereed Article]
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DOI: doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.10.035
Abstract
We report on the late winter oceanography observed beneath the Antarctic sea ice offshore from the Sabrina
andBANZAREcoast ofWilkes Land, East Antarctica (117–1281E) in September–October 2007 during the Sea Ice
Physics and Ecosystem eXperiment (SIPEX). A pilot program using specifically designed ‘through-ice’
conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) and acoustic Doppler current profiling (ADCP) systems was conducted
to opportunisticallymeasure watermass properties and ocean currents atmajor ice stations. Additional water
mass properties across the survey regionwere collected from Ice-Argo floats deployed during the voyage north
of the 3000 m isobath. The mean drift of the floats was along the slope to the west with the Antarctic Slope
Current. Vertical profiles of the potential temperature reveal the deepest đ " 3502400 mŢ winter mixed layer
(WML) in the western sector of the survey northwest of the Dalton Iceberg Tongue polynya. The meridional
structure of the Antarctic Slope Front, i.e. the monotonic shoaling of the WML across the upper continental
slope, is found to be similar to the previous observations in summer.A strong bottom-intensified intrusion of
modified Circumpolar Deep Water (mCDW) as warm as 0 1C was detected beneath the fast ice south of the
continental shelf break at 1181E. An mCDWintrusion of similar strengthwas detected near this location in the
austral summer of 1996.We hypothesise that there is a persistent supply ofmCDWand associated ocean heat
flux to this region of the continental shelf that is capable of migrating to the grounding lines of the nearby
Totten Glacier and Moscow University Ice Shelf. There was no detection of locally formed dense shelf water
capable of forming Antarctic BottomWater at the shelf break locations sampled despite the number ofminor
polynyas across this region.Ocean currentmeasurements, limited to amaximumperiod of 24 h and 50–100 m
depth by the relative scarcity of backscatter, found increased mean vertical speeds at the offshore stations
(6–17 cm s$1) relative to the shelf break (2.3–6.4 cms$1). The diurnal variation in the ADCP range reflected
the dielmigration of zooplankton occurring beneath the sea ice in late winter, with greater range/abundance
offshore. Concurrent time series of wind, ocean current and their influence on sea ice drift from global
positioning system (GPS) compass measurements were examined but the length of data acquisitions limited
the applicability of this analysis.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | oceanography, East Antarctica |
Research Division: | Earth Sciences |
Research Group: | Oceanography |
Research Field: | Oceanography not elsewhere classified |
Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
Objective Group: | Management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments |
Objective Field: | Antarctic and Southern Ocean oceanic processes |
UTAS Author: | Williams, GD (Associate Professor Guy Williams) |
UTAS Author: | Meijers, AJS (Dr Andrew Meijers) |
UTAS Author: | Tamura, T (Dr Takeshi Tamura) |
UTAS Author: | Klocker, A (Dr Andreas Klocker) |
ID Code: | 76801 |
Year Published: | 2011 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 42 |
Deposited By: | CRC-Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems |
Deposited On: | 2012-03-13 |
Last Modified: | 2017-10-31 |
Downloads: | 2 View Download Statistics |
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