One year moorings at depths greater than 3000m on the continental slope off Vincennes Bay, East Antarctica, reveal the cold (<-0.5°C) and fresh (<34.64) signals of newly formed Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW). The signal appeared in June, 3 months after the onset of active sea-ice production in the nearby Vincennes Bay Polynya (VBP). The AABW signal continued for about 5 months at two moorings, with 1 month delay at the western site further downstream. Ship-based hydrographic data are in agreement, detecting the westward spread of new AABW over the continental slope from VBP. On the continental shelf, Dense Shelf Water (DSW) formation is observed by instrumented seals, in and around the VBP during autumn, and we estimate its transport to be 0.16±0.07 (× 106m3s-1). We conclude that the DSW formed in this region, albeit from a modest amount of sea-ice production, nonetheless contributes to the upper layer of AABW in Australian-Antarctic Basin. © 2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Antarctic Bottom Water, Vincennes Bay Polynya, East Antarctica
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:	Tamura, T (Dr Takeshi Tamura)
UTAS Author:	Williams, GD (Mr Guy Williams)
UTAS Author:	Hindell, MA (Professor Mark Hindell)
ID Code:	94471
Year Published:	2014
Web of Science® Times Cited:	32
Deposited By:	CRC-Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems
Deposited On:	2014-09-09
Last Modified:	2017-10-31
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