Decadal freshening of the Antarctic Bottom Water exported from the Weddell Sea
Decadal freshening of the Antarctic Bottom Water exported from the Weddell Sea
Recent decadal changes in Southern Hemisphere climate have driven strong responses from the cryosphere. Concurrently, there has been a marked freshening of the shelf and bottom waters across a wide sector of the Southern Ocean, hypothesised to be caused by accelerated glacial melt in response to a greater flux of warm waters from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current onto the shelves of West Antarctica. However, the circumpolar pattern of changes has been incomplete: no decadal freshening in the deep layers of the Atlantic sector had been observed. In this study, we document a significant freshening of the Antarctic Bottom Water exported from the Weddell Sea, which is the source for the abyssal layer of the Atlantic overturning circulation, and we trace its possible origin to atmospheric-forced changes in the ice shelves and sea ice on the eastern flank of the Antarctic Peninsula that include an anthropogenic component. These findings suggest that the expansive and relatively cool Weddell gyre does not insulate the bottom water formation regions in the Atlantic sector from the ongoing changes in climatic forcing over the Antarctic region.
South Atlantic Ocean, Southern Ocean, Ocean circulation, Abyssal circulation, Bottom currents/bottom water, Trends
8111-8125
Jullion, Loïc
e72025ed-bc3d-4c9f-a78e-4b41cb1c6da9
Naveira Garabato, Alberto C.
97c0e923-f076-4b38-b89b-938e11cea7a6
Meredith, Michael P.
25fd5f1c-f3ed-40a2-af59-5a7074a25fcd
Holland, Paul R.
1288654c-2b5b-4d4c-b360-7eebe59c7539
Courtois, Peggy
016efb21-fb67-46e0-acae-a58b7223b6d1
King, Brian A.
960f44b4-cc9c-4f77-b3c8-775530ac0061
October 2013
Jullion, Loïc
e72025ed-bc3d-4c9f-a78e-4b41cb1c6da9
Naveira Garabato, Alberto C.
97c0e923-f076-4b38-b89b-938e11cea7a6
Meredith, Michael P.
25fd5f1c-f3ed-40a2-af59-5a7074a25fcd
Holland, Paul R.
1288654c-2b5b-4d4c-b360-7eebe59c7539
Courtois, Peggy
016efb21-fb67-46e0-acae-a58b7223b6d1
King, Brian A.
960f44b4-cc9c-4f77-b3c8-775530ac0061
Jullion, Loïc, Naveira Garabato, Alberto C., Meredith, Michael P., Holland, Paul R., Courtois, Peggy and King, Brian A.
(2013)
Decadal freshening of the Antarctic Bottom Water exported from the Weddell Sea.
Journal of Climate, 26 (20), .
(doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00765.1).
Abstract
Recent decadal changes in Southern Hemisphere climate have driven strong responses from the cryosphere. Concurrently, there has been a marked freshening of the shelf and bottom waters across a wide sector of the Southern Ocean, hypothesised to be caused by accelerated glacial melt in response to a greater flux of warm waters from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current onto the shelves of West Antarctica. However, the circumpolar pattern of changes has been incomplete: no decadal freshening in the deep layers of the Atlantic sector had been observed. In this study, we document a significant freshening of the Antarctic Bottom Water exported from the Weddell Sea, which is the source for the abyssal layer of the Atlantic overturning circulation, and we trace its possible origin to atmospheric-forced changes in the ice shelves and sea ice on the eastern flank of the Antarctic Peninsula that include an anthropogenic component. These findings suggest that the expansive and relatively cool Weddell gyre does not insulate the bottom water formation regions in the Atlantic sector from the ongoing changes in climatic forcing over the Antarctic region.
This record has no associated files available for download.
More information
Accepted/In Press date: June 2013
Published date: October 2013
Keywords:
South Atlantic Ocean, Southern Ocean, Ocean circulation, Abyssal circulation, Bottom currents/bottom water, Trends
Organisations:
Physical Oceanography, Marine Physics and Ocean Climate
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 354485
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/354485
ISSN: 0894-8755
PURE UUID: 1a0a2e1d-3409-463d-96db-3ef6212068f7
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 11 Jul 2013 12:50
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:24
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Loïc Jullion
Author:
Michael P. Meredith
Author:
Paul R. Holland
Author:
Peggy Courtois
Author:
Brian A. King
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
