Antarctic Shelf Research Articles

Cross-Shelf Exchange in Prograde Antarctic Troughs Driven by Offshore-Propagating Dense Water Eddies

Abstract This study examines the link between near-bottom outflows of dense water formed in Antarctic coastal polynyas and onshore intrusions of Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) through prograde troughs cutting across the continental shelf. Numerical simulations show that the dense water outflow is primarily in the form of cyclonic eddies. The trough serves as a topographic guide that organizes the offshore-moving dense water eddies into a chain pattern. The offshore migration speed of the dense water eddies is similar to the velocity of the dense water offshore flow in the trough, which scaling analysis finds to be proportional to the reduced gravity of the dense water and the slope of the trough sidewalls and to be inversely proportional to the Coriolis parameter. Our model simulations indicate that, as these cyclonic dense water eddies move across the trough mouth into the deep ocean, they entrain CDW from offshore and carry CDW clockwise along their periphery into the trough. Subsequent cyclonic dense water eddies then entrain the intruding CDW further toward the coast along the trough. This process of recurring onshore entrainment of CDW by a topographically constrained chain of offshore-flowing dense water eddies is consistent with topographic hotspots of onshore intrusion of CDW around Antarctica identified by other studies. It can bring CDW from offshore to close to the coast and thus impact the heat flux into Antarctic coastal regions, affecting interactions among ocean, sea ice, and ice shelves. Significance Statement Troughs cutting across the Antarctic continental shelf are a major conduit for the transport of dense shelf water from coastal formation regions to the shelf break. This study describes a process in which clockwise-spinning eddies moving offshore in prograde troughs successively entrain filaments of relatively warm Circumpolar Deep Water from offshore across the entire shelf and into the coastal region. This eddy-induced transport provides a new understanding of the shelf edge exchange process identified in previous studies and a mechanism for further onshore intrusion of the warm Circumpolar Deep Water over parts of the Antarctic shelf. The resultant onshore heat flux could potentially bring a substantial amount of heat from offshore into the coastal region and thus affect ice–ocean interactions through melting sea ice and ice shelves.

Footprint of sustained poleward warm water flow within East Antarctic submarine canyons

The intrusion of relatively warm water onto the continental shelf is widely recognized as a threat to Antarctic ice shelves and glaciers grounded below sea level, as enhanced ocean heat increases their basal melt. While the circulation of warm water has been documented on the East Antarctic continental shelf, the modes of warm water transport from the deep ocean onto the shelf are still uncertain. This makes predicting the future responses of major East Antarctic marine-grounded glaciers, such as Totten and Ninnis glaciers, particularly challenging. Here, we outline the key role of submarine canyons to convey southward flowing currents that transport warm Circumpolar Deep Water toward the East Antarctic shelf break, thus facilitating warm water intrusion on the continental shelf. Sediment drifts on the eastern flank of the canyons provide evidence for sustained southward-directed flows. These morpho-sedimentary features thus highlight areas potentially prone to enhanced ocean heat transport toward the continental shelf, with repercussions for past, present, and future glacial melting and consequent sea level rise.

Variability in zoobenthic blue carbon storage across a southern polar gradient

The seabed of the Antarctic continental shelf hosts most of Antarctica's known species, including taxa considered indicative of vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs). Nonetheless, the potential impact of climatic and environmental change, including marine icescape transition, on Antarctic shelf zoobenthos, and their blue carbon-associated function, is still poorly characterised. To help narrow knowledge gaps, four continental shelf study areas, spanning a southern polar gradient, were investigated for zoobenthic (principally epi-faunal) carbon storage (a component of blue carbon), and potential environmental influences, employing a functional group approach. Zoobenthic carbon storage was highest at the two southernmost study areas (with a mean estimate of 41.6 versus 7.2 g C m−2) and, at each study area, increased with morphotaxa richness, overall faunal density, and VME indicator density. Functional group mean carbon content varied with study area, as did each group's percentage contribution to carbon storage and faunal density. Of the environmental variables explored, sea-ice cover and primary production, both likely to be strongly impacted by climate change, featured in variable subsets most highly correlating with assemblage and carbon storage (by functional groups) structures. The study findings can underpin biodiversity- and climate-considerate marine spatial planning and conservation measures in the Southern Ocean.

Unsupervised Classification Identifies Warm, Fresh, and Dense Regimes of the Antarctic Margins

Abstract The ocean surrounding Antarctica, also known as the Antarctic margins, is characterized by complex and heterogeneous process interactions, which have major impacts on the global climate. A common way to understand changes in the Antarctic margins is to categorize regions into similar “regimes,” thereby guiding process-based studies and observational analyses. However, this categorization is traditionally largely subjective and based on temperature, density, and bathymetric criteria that are bespoke to the dataset being analyzed. In this work, we introduce a method to classify Antarctic shelf regimes using unsupervised learning. We apply Gaussian mixture modeling to the across-shelf temperature and salinity properties along the Antarctic margins from a high-resolution ocean model, ACCESS-OM2-01. Three clusters are found to be optimum based on the Bayesian information criterion and an assessment of regime properties. The three clusters correspond to the fresh, dense, and warm regimes identified canonically via subjective approaches. Our analysis allows us to track changes to these regimes in a future projection of the ACCESS-OM2-01 model. We identify the future collapse of dense water formation, and the merging of dense and fresh shelf regions into a single fresh regime that covers the entirety of the Antarctic shelf except for the West Antarctic. Our assessment of these clusters indicates that the Antarctic margins may shift into a two-regime system in the future, consisting only of a strengthening warm shelf in the West Antarctic and a fresh shelf regime everywhere else. Significance Statement The Antarctic margins are characterized by complex interactions of surface and ocean processes, producing distinct regions or “regimes.” Understanding where these regimes are and their future state is critical to understanding climate change. Based on a subjective assessment of ocean conditions, past research has identified fresh, dense, and warm regimes in the Antarctic margins. In this work, we use an unsupervised classification tool, Gaussian mixture modeling, to objectively identify the location of regimes around the Antarctic margins. Our method detects three regimes in an ocean model, which match the location of subjectively identified fresh, dense, and warm regimes, and indicates a future shrinking of the dense regime. Our method is adaptable to multiple datasets, enabling us to identify trends and processes in the Antarctic margins.

Biodiversity of Demersal Fish Communities in the Cosmonaut Sea Revealed by DNA Barcoding Analyses.

The Cosmonaut Sea is one of the least accessed regions in the Southern Ocean, and our knowledge about the fish biodiversity in the region is sparse. In this study, we provided a description of demersal fish diversity in the Cosmonaut Sea by analysing cytochrome oxidase I (COI) barcodes of 98 fish samples that were hauled by trawling during the 37th and 38th Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE) cruises. Twenty-four species representing 19 genera and 11 families, namely, Artedidraconidae, Bathydraconidae, Bathylagidae, Channichthyidae, Liparidae, Macrouridae, Muraenolepididae, Myctophidae, Nototheniidae, Paralepididae and Zoarcidae, were discriminated and identified, which were largely identical to local fish occurrence records and the general pattern of demersal fish communities at high Antarctic shelf areas. The validity of a barcoding gap failed to be detected and confirmed across all species due to the indicative signals of two potential cryptic species. Nevertheless, DNA barcoding still demonstrated to be a very efficient and sound method for the discrimination and classification of Antarctic fishes. In the future, various sampling strategies that cover all geographic sections and depth strata of the Cosmonaut Sea are encouraged to enhance our understanding of local fish communities, within which DNA barcoding can play an important role in either molecular taxonomy or the establishment of a dedicated local reference database for eDNA metabarcoding analyses.

Intrinsically Episodic Antarctic Shelf Intrusions of Circumpolar Deep Water via Canyons

Abstract The structure of the Antarctic Slope Current at the continental shelf is crucial in governing the poleward transport of warm water. Canyons on the continental slope may provide a pathway for warm water to cross the slope current and intrude onto the continental shelf underneath ice shelves, which can increase rates of ice shelf melting, leading to reduced buttressing of ice shelves, accelerating glacial flow and hence increased sea level rise. Observations and modeling studies of the Antarctic Slope Current and cross-shelf warm water intrusions are limited, particularly in the East Antarctica region. To explore this topic, an idealized configuration of the Antarctic Slope Current is developed, using an eddy-resolving isopycnal model that emulates the dynamics and topography of the East Antarctic sector. Warm water intrusions via canyons are found to occur in discrete episodes of large onshore flow induced by eddies, even in the absence of any temporal variability in external forcings, demonstrating the intrinsic nature of these intrusions to the slope current system. Canyon width is found to play a key role in modulating cross-shelf exchanges; warm water transport through narrower canyons is more irregular than transport through wider canyons. The intrinsically episodic cross-shelf transport is found to be driven by feedbacks between wind energy input and eddy generation in the Antarctic Slope Current. Improved understanding of the intrinsic variability of warm water intrusions can help guide future observational and modeling studies in the analysis of eddy impacts on Antarctic shelf circulation.

Last Interglacial subsurface warming on the Antarctic shelf triggered by reduced deep-ocean convection

The Antarctic ice-sheet could have contributed 3 to 5 m sea-level equivalent to the Last Interglacial sea-level highstand. Such an Antarctic ice-mass loss compared to pre-industrial requires a subsurface warming on the Antarctic shelf of ~ 3 °C according to ice-sheet modelling studies. Here we show that a substantial subsurface warming is simulated south of 60 °S in an equilibrium experiment of the Last Interglacial. It averages +1.2 °C at ~ 500 m depth from 70 °W to 160 °E, and it reaches +2.4 °C near the Lazarev Sea. Weaker deep-ocean convection due to reduced sea-ice formation is the primary driver of this warming. The associated changes in meridional density gradients and surface winds lead to a weakened Antarctic Circumpolar Current and strengthened Antarctic Slope Current, which further impact subsurface temperatures. A subsurface warming on the Antarctic shelf that could trigger ice-mass loss from the Antarctic ice-sheet can thus be obtained during warm periods from reduced sea-ice formation.

Life strategy of Antarctic silverfish promote large carbon export in Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea

Antarctic silverfish Pleuragramma antarcticum is the most abundant pelagic fish in the High Antarctic shelf waters of the Southern Ocean, where it plays a pivotal role in the trophic web as the major link between lower and higher trophic levels. Despite the ecological importance of this species, knowledge about its role in the biogeochemical cycle is poor. We determine the seasonal contribution of Antarctic silverfish to carbon flux in terms of faeces and eggs, from samples collected in the Ross Sea. We find that eggs and faeces production generate a flux accounting for 41% of annual POC flux and that the variability of this flux is modulated by spawning strategy. This study shows the important role of this organism as a vector for carbon flux. Since Antarctic silverfish are strongly dependent on sea-ice, they might be especially sensitive to climatic changes. Our results suggest that a potential decrease in the biomass of this organism is likely to impact marine biogeochemical cycles, and this should be factored in when assessing Southern Ocean carbon budget.

Subsurface Warming of the West Antarctic Continental Shelf Linked to El Niño‐Southern Oscillation

AbstractRecent observations suggest that El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) impacts basal melting of West Antarctic ice shelves, yet sparse ocean observations limit our understanding of the associated processes. Here we investigate how ENSO events modulate subsurface West Antarctic shelf temperatures using high‐resolution global ocean‐sea ice model simulations. During El Niño, the subsurface shelf warming between 150 m and the shelf bottom can be up to 0.5°C in front of ice shelves. This warming arises from a weaker Amundsen Sea Low (ASL) and weaker coastal easterlies that reduce on‐shelf Ekman transport of cold surface waters, enabling enhanced transport of warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) onto the shelf. A largely opposite response occurs during La Niña, with a stronger ASL and stronger Ekman transport that results in less cross‐shelf CDW transport and cooling in the subsurface. These findings have implications for interpreting basal melting on interannual to decadal time‐scales in West Antarctica.

Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Southern Ocean Ventilation

AbstractOcean ventilation translates atmospheric forcing into the ocean interior. The Southern Ocean is an important ventilation site for heat and carbon and is likely to influence the outcome of anthropogenic climate change. We conduct an extensive backwards‐in‐time trajectory experiment to identify spatial and temporal patterns of ventilation. Temporally, almost all ventilation occurs between August and November. Spatially, “hotspots” of ventilation account for 60% of open‐ocean ventilation on a 30 years timescale; the remaining 40% ventilates in a circumpolar pattern. The densest waters ventilate on the Antarctic shelf, primarily near the Antarctic Peninsula (40%) and the west Ross sea (20%); the remaining 40% is distributed across East Antarctica. Shelf‐ventilated waters experience significant densification outside of the mixed layer.

A Model Study of Buoyancy Driven Cross‐Isobath Transport Over the Ross Sea Continental Shelf Break

AbstractThe intrusion of circumpolar deep water (CDW) onto the Antarctic continental shelf plays an important role in the heat budgets of the Antarctic shelf sea. In the Ross Sea, the Antarctic Slope Current is a strong vorticity barrier that prevents cross‐slope CDW exchange, yet observation evidence shows that CDW is able to get through this barrier in certain locations and reaches the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf (RIS). Previous studies often attribute the cross‐slope exchange to surface wind forcing, eddy and tide‐mediated fluxes. In this work, we highlight the role of buoyancy forcing from the continental shelf in the cross‐isobath exchange on the continental shelf break. The cross‐isobath transport along the Ross Sea continental shelf break is diagnosed with the depth‐averaged vorticity budget equation, using results from an ice‐ocean coupled numerical model. Our results show that the leading‐order balance of vorticity is between the advection of planetary vorticity and the joint effect of baroclinicity and relief (JEBAR). The JEBAR effect supplies negative vorticity and drives onshore transport over the eastern Ross Sea. The heterogeneous transport over eastern and western Ross Sea results in a zonal sea level gradient, with higher sea level over the eastern Ross Sea. The magnitude of JEBAR is determined by horizontal density gradient along the Ross Sea shelf break edge; numerical tracer experiments suggest that the along‐isobath density gradient is set up by the dense shelf water formed over the RIS and the inflow of glacial basal melt water from the Amundsen Sea.

Transport of Anthropogenic Carbon From the Antarctic Shelf to Deep Southern Ocean Triggers Acidification

AbstractFlow of dense shelf water provide an efficient mechanism for pumping CO2 to the deep ocean along the continental shelf slope, particularly around the Antarctic bottom water (AABW) formation areas where much of the global bottom water is formed. However, the contribution of the formation of AABW to sequestering anthropogenic carbon (Cant) and its consequences remain unclear. Here, we show prominent transport of Cant (25.0 ± 4.7 Tg C yr−1) into the deep ocean (>2,000 m) in four AABW formation regions around Antarctica based on an integrated observational data set (1974–2018). This maintains a lower Cant in the upper waters than that of other open oceans to sustain a stronger CO2 uptake capacity (16.9 ± 3.8 Tg C yr−1). Nevertheless, the accumulation of Cant can further trigger acidification of AABW at a rate of −0.0006 ± 0.0001 pH unit yr−1. Our findings elucidate the prominent role of AABW in controlling the Southern Ocean carbon uptake and storage to mitigate climate change, whereas its side effects (e.g., acidification) could also spread to other ocean basins via the global ocean conveyor belt.

An Amundsen Sea source of decadal temperature changes on the Antarctic continental shelf

AbstractMass loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet is dominated by basal melting–induced warm ocean water. Ice-sheet mass loss and thinning of buttressing ice shelves occur primarily in the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas. Here, we show that in a global ocean simulation using the 0.25° Nucleus for European Modeling of Ocean (NEMO) model driven by the JRA55 reanalysis from 1982 to 2017, the Amundsen sector of the Antarctic continental shelf acts as a gateway, regulating the on-shelf access of warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) from the deep ocean and its westward transfer to other sectors up to ca. 90° E, particularly the Ross Sea. As a result, anomalies in Antarctic-shelf-averaged temperature mainly originate in the Amundsen sector. These changes are primarily governed by shifts in the Amundsen Sea Low associated with tropical climate variability, modulating the on-shelf transport of CDW via wind-driven perturbations to ocean currents. The ensuing temperature anomalies progress westward from the Amundsen Sea via three distinct routes: a slow, convoluted westward pathway on the shelf via the Antarctic Coastal Current; a faster westward pathway along the shelf break via the Antarctic Slope Current and then onto the shelf along topographic troughs; and a third, eastward route toward the Bellingshausen sector, whereby temperature anomalies are transported into a region of local wind-generated changes farther north. These results emphasize the importance of the Amundsen sector for climate variability over the Antarctic shelves.

Identifying the Most (Cost‐)Efficient Regions for CO2 Removal With Iron Fertilization in the Southern Ocean

AbstractOcean iron fertilization (OIF) aims to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere by stimulating phytoplankton carbon‐fixation and subsequent deep ocean carbon sequestration in iron‐limited oceanic regions. Transdisciplinary assessments of OIF have revealed overwhelming challenges around the detection and verification of carbon sequestration and wide‐ranging environmental side‐effects, thereby dampening enthusiasm for OIF. Here, we utilize five requirements that strongly influence whether OIF can lead to atmospheric CO2 removal (CDR): The requirement (a) to use preformed nutrients from the lower overturning circulation cell; (b) for prevailing iron‐limitation; (c) for sufficient underwater light for photosynthesis; (d) for efficient carbon sequestration; (e) for sufficient air‐sea CO2 transfer. We systematically evaluate these requirements using observational, experimental, and numerical data in an “informed back‐of‐the‐envelope approach” to generate circumpolar maps of OIF (cost‐)efficiency south of 60°S. Results suggest that (cost‐)efficient CDR is restricted to locations on the Antarctic Shelf. Here, CDR costs can be <100 US$/tonne CO2 while they are mainly >>1,000 US$/tonne CO2 in offshore regions of the Southern Ocean, where mesoscale OIF experiments have previously been conducted. However, sensitivity analyses underscore that (cost‐)efficiency is in all cases associated with large variability and are thus difficult to predict, which reflects our insufficient understanding of the relevant biogeochemical and physical processes. While OIF implementation on Antarctic shelves appears most (cost‐)efficient, it raises legal questions because regions close to Antarctica fall under three overlapping layers of international law. Furthermore, the constraints set by (cost‐)efficiency reduce the area suitable for OIF, thereby likely reducing its maximum CDR potential.

Top-down control over dissolved organic carbon in the bottom water of the Weddell Sea and its implication for the continental shelf pump

Dense water out of the Antarctic shelves is expected to drive the transport of carbon into the deep Southern Ocean via the formation of Antarctic Bottom Water. However, bottom water formation’s capacity to sequester carbon into the deep ocean is poorly constrained. Here, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved black carbon (DBC), and particulate organic carbon (POC) were examined to reveal the influence of the Weddell Sea Deep Water (WSDW) on DOC transport during its flowing out of the Weddell Sea. High DOC concentrations (>60 μM-C) and low DBC/DOC ratios (<1.5%) were observed in surface water near the South Orkney Islands, ascribing to sea ice melt-induced phytoplankton blooms. Seawater at the mid-deep depths exhibited a higher DOC concentration (averaging 48.1 ± 3.7 μM-C) than the incoming water source, resulting from the release of DOC from sinking particles. Bottom water had higher DOC concentration compared to the mid-deep layer water (t-test, p < 0.005), while the DBC concentrations were comparable. In addition, the excess DOC (relative to WSDW) in bottom water showed a close relation with POC in surface water. These results reveal a top-down control over the DOC concentration in bottom water through a quick sinking of diatom detritus and subsequently solubilization in bottom water and/or sediment. With an estimate, the WSDW carries 5.1 ± 2.8 Tg-C/yr of excess DOC out of the Powell Basin, representing an important carbon source to the deep Southern Ocean. This study highlights the key role of the Antarctic continental shelf pump in carbon sequestration.

Stirring across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current's southern boundary at the prime meridian, Weddell Sea

Abstract. At the southern boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), relatively warm ACC waters encounter the colder waters surrounding Antarctica. Strong density gradients across the southern boundary indicate the presence of a frontal jet and are thought to modulate the southward heat transport across the front. In this study, the southern boundary in the Weddell Sea sector at the prime meridian is surveyed for the first time in high resolution over 2 months during an austral summer with underwater gliders occupying a transect across the front on five occasions. The five transects show that the frontal structure (i.e. hydrography, velocities and lateral density gradients) varies temporally. The results demonstrate significant, transient (a few weeks) variability of the southern boundary and its frontal jet in location, strength and width. A mesoscale cold-core eddy is identified to disrupt the southern boundary’s frontal structure and strengthen lateral density gradients across the front. The front's barrier properties are assessed using mixing length scales and potential vorticity to establish the cross-frontal exchange of properties between the ACC and the Weddell Gyre. The results show that stronger lateral density gradients caused by the mesoscale eddy strengthen the barrier-like properties of the front through reduced mixing length scales and pronounced gradients of potential vorticity. In contrast, the barrier-like properties of the southern boundary are reduced when no mesoscale eddy is influencing the density gradients across the front. Using satellite altimetry, we further demonstrate that the barrier properties over the past decade have strengthened as a result of increased meridional gradients of absolute dynamic topography and increased frontal jet speeds in comparison to previous decades. Our results emphasise that locally and rapidly changing barrier properties of the southern boundary are important to quantify the cross-frontal exchange, which is particularly relevant in regions where the southern boundary is located near the Antarctic shelf break (e.g. in the West Antarctic sector).

Sensitivity of Antarctic Shelf Waters and Abyssal Overturning to Local Winds

Abstract Winds around the Antarctic continental margin are known to exert a strong control on the local ocean stratification and circulation. However, past work has largely focused on the ocean response to changing winds in limited regional sectors and the circumpolar dynamical response to polar wind change remains uncertain. In this work, we use a high-resolution global ocean–sea ice model to investigate how dense shelf water formation and the temperature of continental shelf waters respond to changes in the zonal and meridional components of the polar surface winds. Increasing the zonal easterly wind component drives an enhanced southward Ekman transport in the surface layer, raising sea level over the continental shelf and deepening coastal isopycnals. The downward isopycnal movement cools the continental shelf, as colder surface waters replace warmer waters below. However, in this model the zonal easterly winds do not impact the strength of the abyssal overturning circulation, in contrast to past idealized model studies. Instead, increasing the meridional wind speed strengthens the abyssal overturning circulation via a sea ice advection mechanism. Enhanced offshore meridional wind speed increases the northward export of sea ice, resulting in decreased sea ice thickness over the continental shelf. The reduction in sea ice coverage leads to increased air–sea heat loss, sea ice formation, brine rejection, dense shelf water formation, and abyssal overturning circulation. Increasing the meridional winds causes warming at depth over most of the continental shelf, due to a heat advection feedback associated with the enhanced overturning circulation.

Biological Uptake, Water Mass Mixing and Scavenging Limit the Transport of Manganese‐Rich Waters From the East Antarctic Shelf

AbstractManganese (Mn) is an essential element involved in photosynthesis, yet its concentrations in Southern Ocean open waters are very low, arising from biological uptake and limited external inputs. At southern latitudes, waters overlying the Antarctic shelf are expected to have much higher Mn concentrations due to their proximity to external sources. In this study, we investigated the potential export of Mn‐rich Antarctic shelf waters toward depleted open Southern Ocean waters. Our results showed that while high Mn concentrations were observed over the shelf, biological uptake decreased dissolved Mn concentrations in surface waters north of the South Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front (&lt;0.1 nmol kg−1), limiting its export. Conversely, mixing between Mn‐rich Antarctic Bottom Waters and Mn‐depleted Lower Circumpolar Deep Waters combined with oxidative and scavenging processes led to a decrease in dissolved Mn concentrations within bottom waters, with distance from the coast. Particulate Mn concentrations also showed a decreasing trend with distance from the coast. A comparison with other Antarctic coastal regions suggests this bottom water Mn removal may be widespread and that East Antarctica may be characterized by lower Mn concentrations compared to other regions. Still, subsurface dissolved Mn maxima (0.3–0.6 nmol kg−1) represented a potential reservoir for surface waters. We hypothesize that these high subsurface values result from external sources near the shelf. Overall, these results suggest that the moderate lateral export of trace metal‐enriched waters contributes to the extremely low and potentially limiting Mn concentrations previously reported further north in this Southern Ocean region.

Dynamical Controls on Bottom Water Transport and Transformation across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current

Abstract The export of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) supplies the bottom cell of the global overturning circulation and plays a key role in regulating climate. This AABW outflow must cross, and is therefore mediated by, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). Previous studies present widely varying conceptions of the role of the ACC in directing AABW across the Southern Ocean, suggesting either that AABW may be zonally recirculated by the ACC, or that AABW may flow northward within deep western boundary currents (DWBC) against bathymetry. In this study the authors investigate how the forcing and geometry of the ACC influences the transport and transformation of AABW using a suite of process-oriented model simulations. The model exhibits a strong dependence on the elevation of bathymetry relative to AABW layer thickness: higher meridional ridges suppress zonal AABW exchange, increase the strength of flow in the DWBC, and reduce the meridional variation in AABW density across the ACC. Furthermore, the transport and transformation vary with density within the AABW layer, with denser varieties of AABW being less efficiently transported between basins. These findings indicate that changes in the thickness of the AABW layer, for example, due to changes in Antarctic shelf processes, and tectonic changes in the sea floor shape may alter the pathways and transformation of AABW across the ACC. Significance Statement The ocean plays an outsized role in the movement of heat and trace gases around Earth, and the northward export of dense Antarctic Bottom Water is a crucial component of this climate-regulating process. This study aims to understand what sets the pathways of Antarctic Bottom Water as it travels northward across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, and thus what controls its partitioning between the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific basins. Our results highlight the importance of seafloor elevation relative to the thickness of the Antarctic Bottom Water layer for directing the flow northward versus between basins. This study motivates future investigation of long-term changes in Antarctic Bottom Water properties and their consequences for its global distribution.

Study of the structure and intensity of density currents in the shelf-slope region in the Antarctic

The research involves the examination of modeling outcomes regarding the density structure and baroclinic dynamics of Antarctic shelf waters (ASW) within the shelf-slope area, encompassing a wide range of extreme weather conditions. We used a small-scale non-hydrostatic Fluidity-ICOM model to understand the formation and persistence of quasi-stationary polynyas in the Antarctic, which play a role in enhancing the formation of ASW. The salt fluxes, or buoyancy, are calculated for different forms of ice formation, namely static ice formation in young ice-covered polynyas and dynamic intra-water ice formation, which is considered the most effective and occurs in open water polynyas. Based on the intensification of ASW formation and its spread, three distinct modes of propagation along the continental slope have been identified: non-wave or subcritical mode, vortex mode, and wave or supercritical mode, which is characterized by rapid flow. The classification into different modes is determined by the internal Froude number (Fr) estimates. At the moment when the most developed stage of near-bottom density currents are transformed on a slope, the spatial dimensions of meanders, eddies, or frontal waves were found to be similar in magnitude, as well as their thickness. This observation aligns with model calculations of the local baroclinic Rossby deformation radius (RdL) for these currents. These findings agree with comparable assessments of the baroclinic Rossby deformation radius (RdL) for the Antarctic Slope Front (ASF) in the Commonwealth Sea, which were based on field observations. Additionally, the calculated propagation velocities of density currents and the density gradients at their boundaries coincide with the data obtained from field measurements. By estimating the volumetric fluxes (qv) and specific fluxes (ql) of ASW along the continental slope near the Cape Darnley coastal polynya area in the Commonwealth Sea, we can determine the contribution of ASW cascading to the formation of bottom waters under different flux regimes. The precision and accuracy of the qv and ql estimates are ensured through small-scale calculations using the non-hydrostatic Fluidity-ICOM model. These calculations consider the occurrences of intensified ASW formation in open water polynyas. Numerical experiments have revealed that a four-fold increase in a spatial step X results in an underestimation of qv by approximately 30%. As a consequence, in large-scale and even mesoscale hydrostatic models, such underestimation of qv and ql may be unsatisfactory (several times lower).