Uptake, transport and subduction of heat and carbon in the Southern Ocean

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The Southern Ocean plays a crucial role in the climate system by taking up large amounts of anthropogenic heat and carbon. Over recent decades, the Southern Ocean has experienced significant changes that are expected to further intensify over the 21st century and have the potential to greatly impact anthropogenic carbon and heat uptake, with large consequences for global sea level rise and warming. Despite its pivotal role in climate, the Southern Ocean remains one of the most undersampled regions of the global ocean and where climate models generally perform most poorly. ***The long-term objective of this program is to contribute to a better understanding and quantification of oceanic processes that control changes in the Southern Ocean circulation, carbon cycle and cryosphere. The specific objectives of this work are to investigate how heat and carbon are (1) transported meridionally across intense fronts and towards the Antarctic continent, (2) taken up by the Southern Ocean, and (3) subducted into the interior ocean. Of particular interest to this work is the role of mesoscale eddies. These transient or standing oceanic features of the order of 10 to 100 km are thought to play a significant role in the transport and subduction of heat and carbon, and in the uptake of carbon. By combining state-of-the art climate model simulations and the most recent observations of the Southern Ocean, this work is well poised to advance our knowledge on the current and future role of the Southern Ocean in the climate system.***This research program will lead to a better understanding of the Southern Ocean circulation and its interactions with the cryosphere and impact on the carbon cycle. In particular, the completion of the proposed work will (1) help inform current efforts to parameterize mesoscale eddies in coarse-resolution climate models; (2) provide feedbacks to the modeling community as to whether finer ocean resolution in models should be pursued in the future, and (3) provide some guidance to future observational programs, in particular on the strategy of deployment for autonomous floats. This work will ultimately contribute to more accurate climate simulations and better predictions of the future Southern Ocean. Benefits to Canada include (i) supporting the development of oceanographic research in the country, (ii) training students of all cycles in oceanography, and (iii) advancing Canada's leadership role in research on polar regions.**