Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) is formed in a few locations around the Antarctic continent, each source with distinct temperature and salinity. After formation, the different AABW varieties cross the Southern Ocean and flow into the subtropical abyssal basins. It is shown here, using the analysis of Lagrangian trajectories within the Southern Ocean State Estimate (SOSE) model, that the pathways of the different sources of AABW have to a large extent amalgamated into one pathway by the time it reaches 31°S in the deep subtropical basins. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current appears to play an important role in the amalgamation, as 70% of the AABW completes at least one circumpolar loop before reaching the subtropical basins. This amalgamation of AABW pathways suggests that on decadal to centennial time scales, changes to properties and formation rates in any of the AABW source regions will be conveyed to all three subtropical abyssal basins. © 2013 American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Antarctic Bottom Water, Southern Ocean, abyssal basins
Research Division:	Earth Sciences
Research Group:	Oceanography
Research Field:	Physical oceanography
Objective Division:	Environmental Management
Objective Group:	Management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments
Objective Field:	Antarctic and Southern Ocean oceanic processes
UTAS Author:	Rintoul, SR (Dr Steve Rintoul)
ID Code:	87609
Year Published:	2013
Web of Science® Times Cited:	45
Deposited By:	CRC-Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems
Deposited On:	2013-11-27
Last Modified:	2017-11-01
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