scholarly journals An oceanic heat transport pathway to the Amundsen Sea Embayment

2016 ◽  
Vol 121 (5) ◽  
pp. 3337-3349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelica R. Rodriguez ◽  
Matthew R. Mazloff ◽  
Sarah T. Gille
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transport ◽  
Transport Pathway ◽  
Amundsen Sea ◽  
Oceanic Heat Transport

Circulation and Modification of Warm Deep Water on the Central Amundsen Shelf

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 1493-1501 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. K. Ha ◽  
A. K. Wåhlin ◽  
T. W. Kim ◽  
S. H. Lee ◽  
J. H. Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transport ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Shelf Area ◽  
Amundsen Sea ◽  
Glacial Ice ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
Oceanic Heat Transport ◽  
Eastern Side ◽  
Warm Deep Water ◽  
Western Side

Abstract The circulation pathways and subsurface cooling and freshening of warm deep water on the central Amundsen Sea shelf are deduced from hydrographic transects and four subsurface moorings. The Amundsen Sea continental shelf is intersected by the Dotson trough (DT), leading from the outer shelf to the deep basins on the inner shelf. During the measurement period, warm deep water was observed to flow southward on the eastern side of DT in approximate geostrophic balance. A northward outflow from the shelf was also observed along the bottom in the western side of DT. Estimates of the flow rate suggest that up to one-third of the inflowing warm deep water leaves the shelf area below the thermocline in this deep outflow. The deep current was 1.2°C colder and 0.3 psu fresher than the inflow, but still warm, salty, and dense compared to the overlying water mass. The temperature and salinity properties suggest that the cooling and freshening process is induced by subsurface melting of glacial ice, possibly from basal melting of Dotson and Getz ice shelves. New heat budgets are presented, with a southward oceanic heat transport of 3.3 TW on the eastern side of the DT, a northward oceanic heat transport of 0.5–1.6 TW on the western side, and an ocean-to-glacier heat flux of 0.9–2.53 TW, equivalent to melting glacial ice at the rate of 83–237 km3 yr−1. Recent satellite-based estimates of basal melt rates for the glaciers suggest comparable values for the Getz and Dotson ice shelves.

scholarly journals Oceanic heat transport onto the Amundsen Sea shelf through a submarine glacial trough

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dziga P. Walker ◽  
Mark A. Brandon ◽  
Adrian Jenkins ◽  
John T. Allen ◽  
Julian A. Dowdeswell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transport ◽  
Amundsen Sea ◽  
Oceanic Heat Transport

Drivers of intermittent reduction in ocean heat transport into the Getz Ice Shelf cavity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine Steiger ◽  
Elin Darelius ◽  
Anna Wåhlin ◽  
Karen Assmann
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transport ◽  
Heat Content ◽  
Ocean Current ◽  
West Antarctica ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Amundsen Sea ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
Coastal Polynya ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Antarctic

<p><span>Ice shelves in West Antarctica have been thinning during the last decades due to an increased supply of ocean heat that melts the ice from below. The Getz Ice Shelf in the western Amundsen Sea has experienced an inflow of warm water during 2016-2017, but intermittent events of reduced heat content occur during this period. The processes behind the variability of heat transport towards the Antarctic ice shelves on daily to decadal time scales are not well known. <br>Here, we present possible drivers and implications of these events of reduced heat content. We find that they are preceded by strong easterly winds that open up a coastal polynya and depress the cold Winter Water towards the ocean floor. Simultaneously, the ocean current flowing towards the ice shelf veers to the right and aligns with the ice shelf front rather than entering the ice shelf cavity. The heat transport into the ice shelf cavity is consequently reduced by 22% in winter 2016. These events do not occur during winter 2017, possibly due to stronger stratification and weaker winds.</span></p>

scholarly journals The impact of oceanic heat transport on the atmospheric circulation

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 591-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.-A. Knietzsch ◽  
A. Schröder ◽  
V. Lucarini ◽  
F. Lunkeit
Keyword(s):  
Entropy Production ◽  
Heat Transport ◽  
Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Climate System ◽  
Hadley Cell ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Oceanic Heat Transport ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Global Mean

Abstract. A general circulation model of intermediate complexity with an idealized Earth-like aquaplanet setup is used to study the impact of changes in the oceanic heat transport on the global atmospheric circulation. Focus is on the atmospheric mean meridional circulation and global thermodynamic properties. The atmosphere counterbalances to a large extent the imposed changes in the oceanic heat transport, but, nonetheless, significant modifications to the atmospheric general circulation are found. Increasing the strength of the oceanic heat transport up to 2.5 PW leads to an increase in the global mean near-surface temperature and to a decrease in its equator-to-pole gradient. For stronger transports, the gradient is reduced further, but the global mean remains approximately constant. This is linked to a cooling and a reversal of the temperature gradient in the tropics. Additionally, a stronger oceanic heat transport leads to a decline in the intensity and a poleward shift of the maxima of both the Hadley and Ferrel cells. Changes in zonal mean diabatic heating and friction impact the properties of the Hadley cell, while the behavior of the Ferrel cell is mostly controlled by friction. The efficiency of the climate machine, the intensity of the Lorenz energy cycle and the material entropy production of the system decline with increased oceanic heat transport. This suggests that the climate system becomes less efficient and turns into a state of reduced entropy production as the enhanced oceanic transport performs a stronger large-scale mixing between geophysical fluids with different temperatures, thus reducing the available energy in the climate system and bringing it closer to a state of thermal equilibrium.

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