Ocean circulation and dynamics on the west Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf

Observations of current velocity, temperature, salinity and pressure from a 2-year moored array deployment and four hydrographic cruises conducted by the United States Southern Ocean GLOBEC program on the western Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf are used to characterize the ocean circulation and its connection to fresh water and heat fluxes on the shelf. Mean velocities on the shelf are of the order of 5 cm/s or less. Tidal motions are dominated by the M2 and S2 semi-diurnal tides and the 01 and K1 diurnal tides, although the tidal velocities are typically less than 2 cm/s. Near-inertial motions are relatively large, with current velocities as high as 26 cm/s. It is shown that Marguerite Trough, a large bathymetric feature connecting the shelf-break to Marguerite Bay, plays a critical role in determining the circulation. The mean flow is strongly steered in the along-slope direction, and the tidal currents also show increasing current polarization at depth in Marguerite Trough. At time-scales of 5 to 20 days, the observations show bottom-intensified motion in Marguerite Trough consistent with bottom-trapped topographic Rossby waves.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Moffat Varas, Carlos F

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Robert C. Beardsley and W. Brechner Owens.

• Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.
• /Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Joint Program in Applied Ocean Science and Engineering.
• Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/42104

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/42104