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| Weddell Sea Deep Water | |
|---|---|
| Name | Weddell Sea Deep Water |
| Type | Antarctic bottom water mass |
| Location | Weddell Sea, Southern Ocean |
| Depth | >2000 m |
| Temperature | ~−0.5 to 0.5 °C |
| Salinity | ~34.6–34.8 PSU |
Weddell Sea Deep Water is a cold, dense Antarctic bottom water mass formed in the Weddell Sea sector of the Southern Ocean that fills much of the deep basins surrounding the Antarctic Peninsula and Coats Land. It is a critical component of Antarctic water masses studied by institutions such as the British Antarctic Survey, Alfred Wegener Institute, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the National Oceanography Centre. Researchers from programs like the World Ocean Circulation Experiment and the Southern Ocean Observing System investigate its properties and role in climate.
Weddell Sea Deep Water occupies abyssal depths within the Weddell Sea basin and adjoining shelves near Maud Rise, Lazarev Sea, and the Weddell Gyre. It overlies older abyssal waters influenced by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and underlies intermediate layers that interact with inflows from the North Atlantic Deep Water and admixtures from Ross Sea Deep Water. Major scientific expeditions, including voyages by the RRS James Clark Ross, RV Polarstern, and RV Nathaniel B. Palmer, have mapped its distribution using hydrographic sections coordinated by programs such as CLIVAR.
Weddell Sea Deep Water forms primarily through dense water production on the Weddell Sea continental shelf and in polynya regions influenced by katabatic outflows from East Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula. Processes documented by teams at the Scott Polar Research Institute and Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory include brine rejection during sea-ice formation, convective overturning in wintertime polynyas like the historic Weddell Polynya, and dense shelf water cascading across the continental slope as observed by instruments from GEOTRACES and Argo. Characteristic properties reported in World Ocean databases show potential temperature near the freezing point, high dissolved oxygen from ventilated surfaces, and conservative tracers influenced by contact with Antarctic Shelf Water and mixing with Circumpolar Deep Water.
The Weddell Gyre, driven by wind forcing and interactions with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, controls the spreading of Weddell Sea Deep Water into adjacent basins and through gaps like the South Scotia Ridge and the Drake Passage. Overflow dynamics across the continental slope and entrainment processes documented in numerical models by groups at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology redistribute this water into the Southern Ocean abyss and toward gateways to the Atlantic Ocean. Observational programs using moorings from SCAR and glider surveys from the Plymouth Marine Laboratory track export pathways and mixing with Labrador Sea Water-influenced branches farther north.
As a source of very cold, dense bottom water, this Antarctic water mass contributes to the lower limb of the global meridional overturning circulation studied by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and modeled by centers including ECMWF and NOAA laboratories. Its formation rate, variability, and export influence abyssal heat and carbon storage described in assessments by the IPCC and in paleoclimate reconstructions from cores obtained by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. Changes in production affect the strength and geometry of deep pathways connecting to the North Atlantic and modulate long-term climate signals recorded in proxies tied to the International Ocean Discovery Program.
Interactions occur at the interface with seasonal and perennial sea ice near outlets of the Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf and Erebus Glacier-proximal regions, where processes measured by the European Space Agency, NASA, and polar programs control basal melting and ice shelf cavity ventilation. Katabatic winds from Dronning Maud Land and winter polynyas influence brine rejection and convective events that feed dense water formation; these dynamics are central to coupled studies linking observations from ICESat-2, CryoSat-2, and field campaigns run by the German Research Centre for Geosciences.
Weddell Sea Deep Water is a sink for atmospheric gases, carrying carbon and oxygen into the abyss and affecting deep remineralization pathways studied by GEOTRACES and biogeochemical modelers at NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Its oxygen-rich character sustains benthic communities documented by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and polar ecologists from Scott Polar Research Institute, supporting fauna such as deep-sea sponges and echinoderms observed during ROV dives aboard RV Polarstern. Nutrient inventories tied to this water mass influence surface productivity after upwelling events that are monitored by satellite missions like MODIS and programs such as the Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling project.
Monitoring employs hydrographic cruises by vessels like RV Polarstern and RRS Ernest Shackleton, autonomous platforms including Argo floats and gliders from the Southern Ocean Observing System, moored arrays deployed by SCAR and national programs, tracer studies by GEOTRACES, and remote sensing from Copernicus and NOAA satellites. Numerical simulations by modeling centers including NCAR and the UK Met Office assimilate these datasets to resolve formation events, bottom water cascading, and long-term trends reported in international assessments by organizations such as the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.
Category:Southern Ocean Category:Oceanography Category:Antarctic water masses