| 1. |
- Azaneu, M., et al.
(författare)
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Influence of Shelf Break Processes on the Transport of Warm Waters Onto the Eastern Amundsen Sea Continental Shelf
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans. - 2169-9275. ; 128:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The heat transported onto the continental shelf by Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) is the main driver of ice shelf basal melting in the Amundsen Sea. Here, we investigate the slope current system and the variability of the heat transported through the Pine Island-Thwaites central and eastern troughs using data from five moorings deployed in the region between 5 March 2012 and 7 February 2016. Substantial variability on intermonthly time scales (3-4 months) is observed in the onshore heat flux, driven primarily by zonal wind stress north of the shelf break. Heat content, onshore flow, and heat flux are highly correlated between central and eastern troughs, which are most likely dynamically linked by the zonal wind stress forcing. This is the first time this dynamic link between troughs is observed. In the eastern the Amundsen Sea, during the El Nino of 2015/2016, strong eastward winds led to lower temperatures over the continental shelf while the onshore heat flux is intensified. We hypothesize that this anti-correlation between heat content and heat flux results from a strengthened eastward undercurrent leading to upwelling of a colder and deeper CDW variety. These results highlight the complex and heterogeneous response of this region to environmental and the importance of velocity data for understanding the dynamics in this region. It also suggests that the hypothesized link between large-scale atmospheric forcing (e.g., El Nino-Southern Oscillation) and ice-shelf melt is not produced via changes in heat content, but instead via changes in onshore heat flux.
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| 2. |
- Graham, Alastair G.C., et al.
(författare)
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Rapid retreat of Thwaites Glacier in the pre-satellite era
- 2022
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Ingår i: Nature Geoscience. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1752-0894 .- 1752-0908. ; 15, s. 706-713
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding the recent history of Thwaites Glacier, and the processes controlling its ongoing retreat, is key to projecting Antarctic contributions to future sea-level rise. Of particular concern is how the glacier grounding zone might evolve over coming decades where it is stabilized by sea-floor bathymetric highs. Here we use geophysical data from an autonomous underwater vehicle deployed at the Thwaites Glacier ice front, to document the ocean-floor imprint of past retreat from a sea-bed promontory. We show patterns of back-stepping sedimentary ridges formed daily by a mechanism of tidal lifting and settling at the grounding line at a time when Thwaites Glacier was more advanced than it is today. Over a duration of 5.5 months, Thwaites grounding zone retreated at a rate of >2.1 km per year—twice the rate observed by satellite at the fastest retreating part of the grounding zone between 2011 and 2019. Our results suggest that sustained pulses of rapid retreat have occurred at Thwaites Glacier in the past two centuries. Similar rapid retreat pulses are likely to occur in the near future when the grounding zone migrates back off stabilizing high points on the sea floor.
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| 3. |
- Graham, Robert M., et al.
(författare)
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Southern Ocean fronts : Controlled by wind or topography?
- 2012
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 117
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The location of fronts has a direct influence on both the physical and biological processes in the Southern Ocean. Here we explore the relative importance of bottom topography and winds for the location of Southern Ocean fronts, using 100 years of a control and climate change simulation from the high resolution coupled climate model HiGEM. Topography has primary control on the number and intensity of fronts at each longitude. However, there is no strong relationship between the position or spacing of jets and underlying topographic gradients because of the effects of upstream and downstream topography. The Southern Hemisphere Westerlies intensify and shift south by 1.3 degrees in the climate change simulation, but there is no comparable meridional displacement of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current's (ACC) path or the fronts within its boundaries, even over flat topography. Instead, the current contracts meridionally and weakens. North of the ACC, the Subtropical Front (STF) shifts south gradually, even over steep topographic ridges. We suggest the STF reacts more strongly to the wind shift because it is strongly surface intensified. In contrast, fronts within the ACC are more barotropic and are therefore more sensitive to the underlying topography. An assessment of different methods for identifying jets reveals that maxima of gradients in the sea surface height field are the most reliable. Approximating the position of fronts using sea surface temperature gradients is ineffective at high latitudes while using sea surface height contours can give misleading results when studying the temporal variability of front locations.
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| 4. |
- Mallett, Helen K. W., et al.
(författare)
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Variation in the Distribution and Properties of Circumpolar Deep Water in the Eastern Amundsen Sea, on Seasonal Timescales, Using Seal-Borne Tags
- 2018
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Ingår i: Geophysical Research Letters. - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007. ; 45:10, s. 4982-4990
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the Amundsen Sea, warm saline Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) crosses the continental shelf toward the vulnerable West Antarctic ice shelves, contributing to their basal melting. Due to lack of observations, little is known about the spatial and temporal variability of CDW, particularly seasonally. A new data set of 6,704 seal tag temperature and salinity profiles in the easternmost trough between February and December 2014 reveals a CDW layer on average 49dbar thicker in late winter (August to October) than in late summer (February to April), the reverse seasonality of that seen at moorings in the western trough. This layer contains more heat in winter, but on the 27.76 kg/m(3) density surface CDW is 0.32 degrees C warmer in summer than in winter, across the northeastern Amundsen Sea, which may indicate that wintertime shoaling offshelf changes CDW properties onshelf. In Pine Island Bay these seasonal changes on density surfaces are reduced, likely by gyre circulation. Plain Language Summary In the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica, warm salty water crosses the continental shelf from the deep open ocean, toward the vulnerable West Antarctic ice shelves, bringing heat to help melt them from underneath. Due to lack of observations, little is known about how this flow of warm water varies in space and time, particularly seasonally. Between February and December 2014, in a trough in the eastern Amundsen Sea, 6,704 profiles were collected by sensors attached to seals, measuring temperature and salinity as the seals return from dives up to 1,200m deep. These data showed that this warm (similar to 1 degrees C) deep layer is on average similar to 50m thicker in late winter (August to October) than in late summer (February to April), the reverse seasonality of that seen within a trough in the western Amundsen Sea. This warm layer contains more heat in winter but on a surface of constant density is 0.32 degrees C warmer in summer than in winter, across the northeastern Amundsen Sea. This may indicate that in winter the deep waters offshelf rise, allowing different water onto the continental shelf. In Pine Island Bay these seasonal changes on density surfaces are reduced, probably because here the water circulates and mixes.
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| 5. |
- Naveira Garabato, Alberto C., et al.
(författare)
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Vigorous lateral export of the meltwater outflow from beneath an Antarctic ice shelf
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 542:7640, s. 219-222
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The instability and accelerated melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheet are among the foremost elements of contemporary global climate change la. The increased freshwater output from Antarctica is important in determining sea level rise(1,3), the fate of Antarctic sea ice and its effect on the Earth's albedo(4,5), ongoing changes in global deep-ocean ventilation(3,6), and the evolution of Southern Ocean ecosystems and carbon cycling(7,8). A key uncertainty in assessing and predicting the impacts of Antarctic Ice Sheet melting concerns the vertical distribution of the exported meltwater. This is usually represented by climate-scale models(3-5,9) as a near-surface freshwater input to the ocean, yet measurements around Antarctica reveal the meltwater to be concentrated at deeper levels(10-14). Here we use observations of the turbulent properties of the meltwater outflows from beneath a rapidly melting Antarctic ice shelf to identify the mechanism responsible for the depth of the meltwater. We show that the initial ascent of the meltwater outflow from the ice shelf cavity triggers a centrifugal overturning instability that grows by extracting kinetic energy from the lateral shear of the background oceanic flow. The instability promotes vigorous lateral export, rapid dilution by turbulent mixing, and finally settling of meltwater at depth. We use an idealized ocean circulation model to show that this mechanism is relevant to a broad spectrum of Antarctic ice shelves. Our findings demonstrate that the mechanism producing meltwater at depth is a dynamically robust feature of Antarctic melting that should be incorporated into climate-scale models.
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| 6. |
- Oelerich, Ria, et al.
(författare)
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Stirring across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current's southern boundary at the prime meridian, Weddell Sea
- 2023
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Ingår i: Ocean Science. - 1812-0784 .- 1812-0792. ; 19:5, s. 1465-1482
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- At the southern boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), relatively warm ACC waters encounter the colder waters surrounding Antarctica. Strong density gradients across the southern boundary indicate the presence of a frontal jet and are thought to modulate the southward heat transport across the front. In this study, the southern boundary in the Weddell Sea sector at the prime meridian is surveyed for the first time in high resolution over 2 months during an austral summer with underwater gliders occupying a transect across the front on five occasions. The five transects show that the frontal structure (i.e. hydrography, velocities and lateral density gradients) varies temporally. The results demonstrate significant, transient (a few weeks) variability of the southern boundary and its frontal jet in location, strength and width. A mesoscale cold-core eddy is identified to disrupt the southern boundary's frontal structure and strengthen lateral density gradients across the front. The front's barrier properties are assessed using mixing length scales and potential vorticity to establish the cross-frontal exchange of properties between the ACC and the Weddell Gyre. The results show that stronger lateral density gradients caused by the mesoscale eddy strengthen the barrier-like properties of the front through reduced mixing length scales and pronounced gradients of potential vorticity. In contrast, the barrier-like properties of the southern boundary are reduced when no mesoscale eddy is influencing the density gradients across the front. Using satellite altimetry, we further demonstrate that the barrier properties over the past decade have strengthened as a result of increased meridional gradients of absolute dynamic topography and increased frontal jet speeds in comparison to previous decades. Our results emphasise that locally and rapidly changing barrier properties of the southern boundary are important to quantify the cross-frontal exchange, which is particularly relevant in regions where the southern boundary is located near the Antarctic shelf break (e.g. in the West Antarctic sector).
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Testor, Pierre, et al.
(författare)
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OceanGliders: A component of the integrated GOOS
- 2019
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Marine Science. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-7745. ; 6
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The OceanGliders program started in 2016 to support active coordination and enhancement of global glider activity. OceanGliders contributes to the international efforts of the Global Ocean Observation System (GOOS) for Climate, Ocean Health and Operational Services. It brings together marine scientists and engineers operating gliders around the world: (1) to observe the long-term physical, biogeochemical, and biological ocean processes and phenomena that are relevant for societal applications; and, (2) to contribute to the GOOS through real-time and delayed mode data dissemination. The OceanGliders program is distributed across national and regional observing systems and significantly contributes to integrated, multi-scale and multi-platform sampling strategies. OceanGliders shares best practices, requirements, and scientific knowledge needed for glider operations, data collection and analysis. It also monitors global glider activity and supports the dissemination of glider data through regional and global databases, in real-time and delayed modes, facilitating data access to the wider community. OceanGliders currently supports national, regional and global initiatives to maintian and expand the capabilities and application of gliders to meet key global challenges such as improved measurement of ocean boundary currents, water transformation and storm forecast.
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| 9. |
- Webber, B. G. M., et al.
(författare)
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The Impact of Overturning and Horizontal Circulation in Pine Island Trough on Ice Shelf Melt in the Eastern Amundsen Sea
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Physical Oceanography. - : American Meteorological Society. - 0022-3670 .- 1520-0485. ; 49:1, s. 63-83
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ice shelves around the Amundsen Sea are rapidly melting as a result of the circulation of relatively warm ocean water into their cavities. However, little is known about the processes that determine the variability of this circulation. Here we use an ocean circulation model to diagnose the relative importance of horizontal and vertical (overturning) circulation within Pine Island Trough, leading to Pine Island and Thwaites ice shelves. We show that melt rates and southward Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) transports covary over large parts of the continental shelf at interannual to decadal time scales. The dominant external forcing mechanism for this variability is Ekman pumping and suction on the continental shelf and at the shelf break, in agreement with previous studies. At the continental shelf break, the southward transport of CDW and heat is predominantly barotropic. Farther south within Pine Island Trough, northward and southward barotropic heat transports largely cancel, and the majority of the net southward temperature transport is facilitated by baroclinic and overturning circulations. The overturning circulation is related to water mass transformation and buoyancy gain on the shelf that is primarily facilitated by freshwater input from basal melting.
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