Year-round observations of the Weddell Sea from Argo floats

Ethan Campbell intern

Department of GeosciencesPrinceton University

Princeton, NJ

Prof. Stephen Riser mentor

School of OceanographyUniversity of Washington

Seattle, WA

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and Weddell Sea

Weddell Sea

Stevens & Chiswell (2013) / Te Ara

Past observations of the Weddell Sea• Extremely sparse (only 3000 ship-borne profiles since 1912)• Almost all during austral summer

Robertson et al. (2002)

for scale, New Jersey:

Argo float observations

National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK

Argo floats in the Weddell Sea

A rare occurrence during mid-winter

A rare occurrence during mid-winter

Maud Rise

• Massive seamount– 100 km in diameter (width of

New Jersey)– Extends from 5000 m to

1600 m depth• Impinging flow splits– “Halo” of circulation around

column– Warm water forced to upwell

• Persistent low sea ice concentration

Holland (2001)

A small polynya west of Maud Rise

Warm pool west of Maud Rise

Heat and salt budgets of the Weddell Sea mixed layer + sea ice thickness

Wong & Riser (2011), from Martinson (1990)

change in mixed layer depth

change in mixed layer salinity

inferred thermodynamic ice thickness

Acknowledgements

• Princeton Environmental Institute for funding• UW School of Oceanography:– Special thanks to Prof. Stephen Riser– Annie Wong– Robert Drucker– Dana Swift– Rick Rupan & the Argo lab

• Princeton Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences:– Prof. Jorge Sarmiento– Hannah Zanowski