Seasonal variability of the Antarctic Coastal Current and its driving mechanisms in the Weddell Sea

Insight into the dynamics of the Antarctic Coastal Current (ACoC) is achieved by quantifying the contributions of its driving mechanisms to the seasonal variability of its barotropic and baroclinic components. These mechanisms are sought out in the local wind, the sea-ice concentration, wind curl of the Weddell Gyre (Sverdrup transport) and the thermohaline forcing related to warming/cooling and ice melting and freezing. These driving mechanisms induce most of the seasonal variability of both the barotropic and baroclinic components of the ACoC by deepening the pycnocline towards the coast and sharpening the baroclinic profile following thermal wind balance. The resulting coastal current has mainly a barotropic transport (82%) and a major annual cycle, which explains 37% of this component's variability (tides and other high-frequency events generate 40%). The wind contributes with 58% of the seasonal variability of the barotropic component and 23% of the baroclinic; the sea-ice concentration contributes with 8% and 18%, respectively; Sverdrup transport with 4% and 30% and the thermohaline forcing with 30% and 29%. The results of this study are obtained with analysis of fifteen CTD sections (potential density and geostrophic velocities) of RV-Polarstern obtained between 1992 and 2005, as well as composite, spectral and harmonic analyses of 9 years of time series from moored instruments (current speed and temperature), wind speed, atmospheric pressure and sea-ice concentration of satellite imagery. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.