Warming of the deep water in the Weddell Sea along the Greenwich meridian: 1977–2001

Abstract

The Weddell Deep Water (WDW) warmed substantially along the Greenwich meridian following the Weddell Polynya of the 1970s. Areas affected by the polynya contained ∼14 GJ/m 2 more heat in 2001 than in 1977. This warming would require a flux of ∼390 W/m 2 if it were to take place over a year. Large variations in heat content of the WDW are found between the Antarctic coast and Maud Rise (64°S). The small variation found north of Maud Rise is opposite in phase to that to the south, and the warming was close to monotonic south of 68°S. The mean warming of WDW along the section is ∼0.032 °C per decade, comparable to the warming of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The mean warming compares with a surface heat flux of 4 W/m 2 over the 25 year period, an order of magnitude higher than the warming of the global ocean. As variation in mean salinity of the WDW follows the warming/cooling events, variation in inflow probably explains a cooling event between 1984 and 1989, and a warming event between 1989 and 1992. Cooling during the late 1990s is probably related to the reappearance of a polynya like feature in some winter months as an area 100 km in diameter close to Maud Rise with 10–20% lower sea ice concentrations than the surrounding ocean.