Chlorofluoromethanes in the western Indian sector of the Southern Ocean and their relations with geochemical tracers

Abstract

The first vertical profiles of chlorofluoromethanes (Freons F11 and F12) measured during the austral summer 1987 (INDIGO-3 cruise) in the region of Enderby Land (30°E) and the Princess Elizabeth Trough (90°E) arc presented in relation to hydrological and geochemical characteristics. In the open ocean, transient tracer penetration reaches 1000 m. Off the West Ice Shelf and Enderby Land, a significant decrease in Freons is found below the cold Winter Water and just above the deep oxygen minimum and temperature maximum of the upper Circumpolar Deep Water (200–400 m). In the region off MacRobertson Land, where the oxygen minimum is deeper (1000 m), the Freon gradients are less abrupt. In deep open ocean waters, no Freons were detected in the core of the Circumpolar Deep Water. However, near the continental shelf, we have encountered Freon minima associated with salinity maxima, indicating significant mixing between deep and (recent) ventilated waters. Over the whole water column, a strong zonal contrast emerges in tracer distributions between stations situated to the east and to the west of MacRobertson Land (65°E), which may be associated with the Weddell Gyre extension. Freon maxima associated with oxygen maxima and temperature and salinity minima that characterize Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) have been found over all the region studied; the tracers indicate three main bottom waters that are related to Weddell Sea, Ross Sea and local origins. At two stations located on the edge of the continental shelf, Freon measurements suggest that the AABW formation was recent, and the tracers' continuity reveals a preferential westward flow of bottom waters. Although it is clear that bottom water formation takes place around 60–70°E, the information is too sparse to specify the source regions.