Circulation and meltwater distribution in the Bellingshausen Sea: From shelf break to coast
Abstract West Antarctic ice shelves have thinned dramatically over recent decades. Oceanographic measurements that explore connections between offshore warming and transport across a continental shelf with variable bathymetry toward ice shelves are needed to constrain future changes in melt rates. S...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2016-06-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL068998 |
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| author | Xiyue Zhang Andrew F. Thompson Mar M. Flexas Fabien Roquet Horst Bornemann |
| author_facet | Xiyue Zhang Andrew F. Thompson Mar M. Flexas Fabien Roquet Horst Bornemann |
| author_sort | Xiyue Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract West Antarctic ice shelves have thinned dramatically over recent decades. Oceanographic measurements that explore connections between offshore warming and transport across a continental shelf with variable bathymetry toward ice shelves are needed to constrain future changes in melt rates. Six years of seal‐acquired observations provide extensive hydrographic coverage in the Bellingshausen Sea, where ship‐based measurements are scarce. Warm but modified Circumpolar Deep Water floods the shelf and establishes a cyclonic circulation within the Belgica Trough with flow extending toward the coast along the eastern boundaries and returning to the shelf break along western boundaries. These boundary currents are the primary water mass pathways that carry heat toward the coast and advect ice shelf meltwater offshore. The modified Circumpolar Deep Water and meltwater mixtures shoal and thin as they approach the continental slope before flowing westward at the shelf break, suggesting the presence of the Antarctic Slope Current. Constraining meltwater pathways is a key step in monitoring the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-776072e612b44fd7a583ebfe4520ab1b |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2016-06-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-776072e612b44fd7a583ebfe4520ab1b2025-08-20T01:50:59ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072016-06-0143126402640910.1002/2016GL068998Circulation and meltwater distribution in the Bellingshausen Sea: From shelf break to coastXiyue Zhang0Andrew F. Thompson1Mar M. Flexas2Fabien Roquet3Horst Bornemann4Environmental Science and Engineering California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USAEnvironmental Science and Engineering California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USAJet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USADepartment of Meteorology Stockholm University Stockholm SwedenAlfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz‐Zentrum für Polar‐ und Meeresforschung Bremerhaven GermanyAbstract West Antarctic ice shelves have thinned dramatically over recent decades. Oceanographic measurements that explore connections between offshore warming and transport across a continental shelf with variable bathymetry toward ice shelves are needed to constrain future changes in melt rates. Six years of seal‐acquired observations provide extensive hydrographic coverage in the Bellingshausen Sea, where ship‐based measurements are scarce. Warm but modified Circumpolar Deep Water floods the shelf and establishes a cyclonic circulation within the Belgica Trough with flow extending toward the coast along the eastern boundaries and returning to the shelf break along western boundaries. These boundary currents are the primary water mass pathways that carry heat toward the coast and advect ice shelf meltwater offshore. The modified Circumpolar Deep Water and meltwater mixtures shoal and thin as they approach the continental slope before flowing westward at the shelf break, suggesting the presence of the Antarctic Slope Current. Constraining meltwater pathways is a key step in monitoring the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL068998Bellingshausen SeaCircumpolar Deep Waterslope currentanimal‐borne sampling |
| spellingShingle | Xiyue Zhang Andrew F. Thompson Mar M. Flexas Fabien Roquet Horst Bornemann Circulation and meltwater distribution in the Bellingshausen Sea: From shelf break to coast Geophysical Research Letters Bellingshausen Sea Circumpolar Deep Water slope current animal‐borne sampling |
| title | Circulation and meltwater distribution in the Bellingshausen Sea: From shelf break to coast |
| title_full | Circulation and meltwater distribution in the Bellingshausen Sea: From shelf break to coast |
| title_fullStr | Circulation and meltwater distribution in the Bellingshausen Sea: From shelf break to coast |
| title_full_unstemmed | Circulation and meltwater distribution in the Bellingshausen Sea: From shelf break to coast |
| title_short | Circulation and meltwater distribution in the Bellingshausen Sea: From shelf break to coast |
| title_sort | circulation and meltwater distribution in the bellingshausen sea from shelf break to coast |
| topic | Bellingshausen Sea Circumpolar Deep Water slope current animal‐borne sampling |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL068998 |
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