Abstract
The formation of Antarctic Bottom Water—the cold, dense water that occupies the abyssal layer of the global ocean—is a key process in global ocean circulation. This water mass is formed as dense shelf water sinks to depth. Three regions around Antarctica where this process takes place have been previously documented. The presence of another source has been identified in hydrographic and tracer data, although the site of formation is not well constrained. Here we document the formation of dense shelf water in the Cape Darnley polynya (65°–69° E) and its subsequent transformation into bottom water using data from moorings and instrumented elephant seals (Mirounga leonina). Unlike the previously identified sources of Antarctic Bottom Water, which require the presence of an ice shelf or a large storage volume, bottom water production at the Cape Darnley polynya is driven primarily by the flux of salt released by sea-ice formation. We estimate that about 0.3–0.7×106 m3 s−1 of dense shelf water produced by the Cape Darnley polynya is transformed into Antarctic Bottom Water. The transformation of this water mass, which we term Cape Darnley Bottom Water, accounts for 6–13% of the circumpolar total.
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Acknowledgements
We are deeply indebted to the officers, crew and scientists on board TR/V Umitaka-maru and R/V Hakuho-maru for their help with field observations. Comments by R. A. Massom and support from K. Shimada and K. Kitagawa were helpful. The AMSR-E and SSM/I data were provided by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), University of Colorado. The ASAR data were provided by European Space Agency. IMOS seal CTD data were provided through the Australian Animal Tracking and Monitoring System, a facility of Integrated Marine Observing System. Isles Kerguelen deployments were supported by the French Spatial Agency (CNES) and the French Polar Institute (IPEV). This work was supported by Grants-in-Aids for Scientific Research (20221001, 20540419, 21740337, 23340135) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan, and the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Programme through the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystem Cooperative Research Centre.
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K.I.O. and Y.F. conducted and analysed mooring observations after planning the experiment with M.W., S.A. and T.T. G.D.W. led the investigation of seal data with calibration by F.R., analysis by L.H-B., and fieldwork by I.F. and M.H. S.N. and T.T. analysed satellite data. Y.K. and D.H. conducted hydrographic observations.
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Ohshima, K., Fukamachi, Y., Williams, G. et al. Antarctic Bottom Water production by intense sea-ice formation in the Cape Darnley polynya. Nature Geosci 6, 235–240 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1738
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1738
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