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Antarctic Bottom Water production from the Vincennes Bay Polynya, East Antarctica
Author(s) -
Kitade Yujiro,
Shimada Keishi,
Tamura Takeshi,
Williams Guy D.,
Aoki Shigeru,
Fukamachi Yasushi,
Roquet Fabien,
Hindell Mark,
Ushio Shuki,
Ohshima Kay I.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2014gl059971
Subject(s) - antarctic bottom water , oceanography , bay , hydrography , continental shelf , geology , bottom water , ice shelf , climatology , sea ice , cryosphere
One year moorings at depths greater than 3000 m 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 (× 10 6 m 3 s −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.