Sudden, local temperature increase above the continental slope in the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica

Darelius, Elin; Dundas, Vår; Janout, Markus; Tippenhauer, Sandra

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-671-2023

Articles | Volume 19, issue 3

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-671-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

The Weddell Sea and the ocean off Dronning Maud Land: unique...

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-671-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 3

Research article

|

22 May 2023

Research article |

| 22 May 2023

Sudden, local temperature increase above the continental slope in the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica

Elin Darelius, Vår Dundas, Markus Janout, and Sandra Tippenhauer

Data sets

Physical oceanography based on ship CTD during POLARSTERN cruise PS124 S. Tippenhauer, M. A. Janout, E. Schall, R. Timmermann, M. van Caspel, L. Vignes, Y. Hinse, and H. H. Hellmer https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.957614

Moored measurements of current, temperature and salinity in the southern Weddell Sea, January 2009–January 2010 I. Fer https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.869799

Raw data of physical oceanography and current velocity data from moorings AWI252-3, AWI253-3 and AWI254-3 in Filchner Trough, February 2018–March 2021 M. A. Janout, H. H. Hellmer, and M. Monsees https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.944430

Physical oceanography and current meter data from mooring AWI253-1 M. Schröder, S. Ryan, and A. Wisotzki https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.875932

Physical oceanography and current meter data from mooring AWI253-2 M. Schröder, S. Ryan, and A. Wisotzki, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.903315

Short summary

Antarctica's ice shelves are melting from below as ocean currents bring warm water into the ice shelf cavities. The melt rates of the large Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf in the southern Weddell Sea are currently low, as the water in the cavity is cold. Here, we present data from a scientific cruise to the region in 2021 and show that the warmest water at the upper part of the continental slope is now about 0.1°C warmer than in previous observations, while the surface water is fresher than before.