Collaborative Research: Initiation of the Antarctic Slope Front in West Antarctica

南极斜坡锋(ASF)是南极洲大部分地区大陆架和斜坡的持久特征。它是南大洋S全球环流中一个明显连贯但采样不足的组成部分。AFS是南极地表水自下而上更新的主要来源区域，也是流入全球深海的底层水。通过与高纬度海洋、极地大气、海冰和陆冰的交换，人们有相当大的兴趣了解AFS海洋热、气体、盐(淡水)、营养物质、颗粒和碳的交换和转化。西南极半岛没有ASF及其相关洋流，而在阿蒙森海观测到了成熟的ASF。在此期间，别林豪森海的冰架经历了南极洲最近一些最剧烈的变薄速度，但仍然是全球海洋中研究最少的区域之一。该项目将利用海洋滑翔机和船载CTD和ADCP测量，对沿大陆架断裂和别林豪森海主要海槽的锋面环流进行全面调查。在更广泛的影响方面，这项研究将减少耦合气候模型中的不确定性，这些模型可能用于预测连接阿蒙森海和贝灵豪森海的西南极冰架迅速变薄导致的未来海平面上升。该项目还将支持研究生和博士后研究员的教育。

The Antarctic slope front (ASF) is a persistent feature of the continental shelf and slope around much of Antarctica. It is a notably coherent yet under-sampled component of the Southern Ocean?s global circulation. The AFS is a primary source region for the renewal of Antarctic surface water from below and also bottom water flow into the global deep ocean. There is considerable interest in understanding the exchanges and transformations of AFS ocean heat, gasses, salt (freshwater), nutrients, particulates and carbon through exchanges with components of the high latitude ocean, polar atmosphere, sea-ice and land ice. The ASF and associated currents are absent on the West Antarctic Peninsula, whereas a well-established ASF has been observed in the Amundsen Sea. In between, the Bellingshausen Sea hosts ice shelves that have experienced some of the most dramatic recent thinning rates in Antarctica, yet remains one of the most under-studied regions of the global ocean. The project will make a comprehensive survey of the frontal circulation along the continental shelf break and the major troughs of the Bellingshausen Sea using both ocean gliders and ship-based CTD and ADCP measurements. In terms of broader impacts, this research will reduce the uncertainty in coupled climate models that may be used to project future sea-level rise resulting from rapid thinning of the West Antarctic ice shelves that connect to the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas. The project will also support the education of a graduate student and post-doctoral researcher.