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A numerical investigation of the spring Ross Sea polynya
Author(s) -
Fichefet T.,
Goosse H.
Publication year - 1999
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 - 10.1029/1999gl900159
Subject(s) - ice shelf , geology , oceanography , continental shelf , sea ice , climatology , circumpolar deep water , spring (device) , arctic ice pack , antarctic sea ice , cryosphere , deep water , north atlantic deep water , mechanical engineering , engineering
In November and December, a polynya (area of reduced ice concentration surrounded by heavy pack ice) usually develops on the western Ross Sea continental shelf immediately north of the Ross Ice Shelf. This important regional feature is reasonably well simulated by the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) global ice‐ocean model, despite its coarse resolution. The model results suggest that both the wind‐induced divergence of the sea ice and the inflow of relatively warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) onto the continental shelf are essential for the polynya formation, which supports the inference drawn from observational data.