Ice-ocean processes over the continental shelf of the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica: A review

Keith W. Nicholls

British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK

Svein Østerhus

Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

Keith Makinson

British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK

Tor Gammelsrød

Geofysisk Institutt, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

Department of Arctic Geophysics, University Centre in Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Norway

Eberhard Fahrbach

Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany

AGU.org

Interactions between the Southern Ocean and the Weddell Sea ice shelves are important both to the Antarctic Ice Sheet and to the production of globally significant water masses. Here we review the interaction between the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf and the shelf sea in which it floats. The continental shelf processes leading to the production of Weddell Sea deep and bottom waters from the original off-shelf source waters are discussed, and a new view is offered of the initial production of High-Salinity Shelf Water. Data from ship-based measurements at the ice front, from glaciological methods, and from measurements made within the sub–ice shelf cavity itself are used to describe the pattern of flows beneath the ice shelf. We also consider the variability observed within the cavity from tidal to interannual time scales and finish with a discussion of future research priorities in the region.

Received 8 October 2007; accepted 27 March 2009; published 22 July 2009.

Citation: Nicholls, K. W., S. Østerhus, K. Makinson, T. Gammelsrød, and E. Fahrbach (2009), Ice-ocean processes over the continental shelf of the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica: A review, Rev. Geophys., 47, RG3003, doi:10.1029/2007RG000250.