Zonal Distribution of Circumpolar Deep Water Transformation Rates and Its Relation to Heat Content on Antarctic Shelves

We analyze 15-year of observational data and a 5-year Southern Ocean model simulation to quantify the transformation rates of Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) and the associated heat loss to the surface. This study finds that over the continental shelves of East Antarctica and the Weddell and Ross Seas, surface buoyancy fluxes transform similar to 4.4 Sv of surface waters into CDW, providing a path for CDW to lose heat to the surface. In addition, similar to 6.6 Sv of CDW are mixed with surface waters in the Weddell and Ross subpolar gyres. In contrast, enhanced stratification inhibits the outcropping of CDW isopycnals, reducing their transformation rates by a factor of similar to 8 over the continental shelf and by a factor of similar to 3 over the deeper ocean in the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas. The CDW retains its offshore warm properties as it intrudes over the continental shelves, resulting in elevated bottom temperatures there. This analysis demonstrates the importance of processes in subpolar gyres to erode CDW and to facilitate further transformation on the continental shelves, significantly reducing the heat able to access ice shelf fronts. This sheltering effect is strongest in the western Weddell Sea and tends to diminish toward the east, which helps explain the large zonal differences in continental-shelf bottom temperatures and the melt rates of Antarctic ice shelves. Plain Language Summary The continental slope around Antarctica acts as a barrier to deep and warmer offshore waters that can bring heat to the glaciers along the coastline, enhancing their melt rate and contributing to global sea level rise. Around the Antarctic continent these offshore waters, the so-called Circumpolar Deep Waters, differ in their ability to cross this barrier while retaining their heat, explaining to a large extent why West Antarctic glaciers melt much faster than other Antarctic ice sheets. We study the properties of the warm waters over the continental shelf and offshore regions and contrast them across regions. We show that in East Antarctica, the Ross Sea, and the Weddell Sea, deep warm waters are brought to the surface where they lose heat and mix with surface waters. However, in the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas, the warm water is insulated from the surface by land run-off of fresher and lighter waters that occupy the surface. These results highlight the importance of the subpolar gyres in sheltering Antarctic glaciers.

Automated summary

We analyze observational data and model simulation to understand the transformation rates of Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) and its heat loss to the surface. The study finds that surface buoyancy fluxes transform around 4.4 Sv of surface waters into CDW over East Antarctica, the Weddell and Ross Seas, providing a path for CDW to lose heat. Additionally, around 6.6 Sv of CDW are mixed with surface waters in the Weddell and Ross subpolar gyres. The analysis highlights the importance of subpolar gyres in sheltering Antarctic glaciers.