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

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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.