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.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-671-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
22 May 2023
Research article |
| 22 May 2023
| 22 May 2023
Sudden, local temperature increase above the continental slope in the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica
Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen and the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway
Vår Dundas
Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen and the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway
Markus Janout
Alfred-Wegener-Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
Sandra Tippenhauer
Alfred-Wegener-Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
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Moored observations confirm that strong westward ocean surface stress events ("storms'') can increase the speed of the Antarctic Slope Current and the circulation in the Filchner Trough region. Roughly one-third of the identified storm events cause an increased southward current speed on the shelf. This enhances the southward transport of heat already present on the shelf and the likelihood that this heat reaches the ice shelf front before it is lost to the atmosphere during winter.
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Ocean Sci., 11, 855–871, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-11-855-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-11-855-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Quasi-regular eddies are known to be generated in the outflow of dense water through the Faroe Bank Channel. One year long mooring records from the plume region show that (1) the energy associated with the eddies varies by a factor of 10 throughout the year and (2) the frequency of the eddies shifts between 3 and 6 days and is related to the strength of the outflow. Similar variability is shown by a high-resolution regional model and the observations agree with theory on baroclinic instability.
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T. Krumpen, M. Janout, K. I. Hodges, R. Gerdes, F. Girard-Ardhuin, J. A. Hölemann, and S. Willmes
The Cryosphere, 7, 349–363, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-349-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-349-2013, 2013
C. Wegner, D. Bauch, J. A. Hölemann, M. A. Janout, B. Heim, A. Novikhin, H. Kassens, and L. Timokhov
Biogeosciences, 10, 1117–1129, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-1117-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-1117-2013, 2013
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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.
Antarctica's ice shelves are melting from below as ocean currents bring warm water into the ice...
