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

南极坡锋（ASF）是南极洲大部分地区大陆架和斜坡的持久特征。它是南大洋中一个明显连贯但采样不足的组成部分。美国全球环流。南极海区是南极地表水从海底更新的主要源区，也是流入全球深海的海底水的主要源区。通过与高纬度海洋、极地大气、海冰和陆冰组分的交换，人们对了解AFS海洋热、气体、盐（淡水）、营养物质、颗粒和碳的交换和转化非常感兴趣。南极半岛西部没有ASF和相关洋流，而在阿蒙森海观测到一个成熟的ASF。在这两者之间，别林斯高森海的冰架经历了南极洲最近最剧烈的变薄速度，但仍然是全球海洋中研究最少的地区之一。该项目将利用海洋滑翔机和船载CTD和ADCP测量对大陆架断裂和别令斯豪森海主要槽的锋面环流进行全面调查。就更广泛的影响而言，这项研究将减少耦合气候模型的不确定性，这些模型可用于预测连接阿蒙森海和别令斯豪森海的南极西部冰架迅速变薄所导致的未来海平面上升。该项目还将支持一名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.