Deep Ocean Ventilation Through Antarctic Intermediate Layers: (DOVETAIL)

Earth And Space Research, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

0003423 Padman The proposed project is the continuation of an analysis program of data obtained in the course of a multi-institutional integrated study of the outflow of newly formed bottom water from the Weddell Sea and its dispersion into the South Atlantic Ocean. That study was called Deep Ocean Ventilation Through Antarctic Intermediate Layers (DOVETAIL) and included six components involving hydrographic measurements, natural tracer experiments, and modeling studies. It was centered east of the Drake Passage where water masses from the Weddell Sea and the Scotia Sea come together in the Weddell-Scotia Confluence, and was carried out in cooperation with the national antarctic programs of Germany and Spain. The objectives of this continuation are to participate in the international data analysis effort, to construct an integrated regional data base, the organization of a special DOVETAIL journal issue, and the organization of a final scientific workshop. Ventilation of the deep ocean -- the rising of sub-surface water masses to the surface to be recharged with atmospheric gases and to give up heat to the atmosphere -- is a uniquely antarctic phenomenon that has significant consequences for global change by affecting the global reservoir of carbon dioxide, and by modulating the amount and extent of seasonal sea ice in the southern hemisphere. ***