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Importance of the Antarctic Slope Current in the Southern Ocean Response to Ice Sheet Melt and Wind Stress Change
We use two coupled climate models, GFDL-CM4 and GFDL-ESM4, to investigate the physical response of the Southern Ocean to changes in surface wind stress, Antarctic meltwater, and the combined forcing of the two in a pre-industrial control simulation. The meltwater cools the ocean surface in all regions except the Weddell Sea, where the wind stress warms the near-surface layer. The limited sensitivity of the Weddell Sea surface layer to the meltwater is due to the spatial distribution of the meltwater fluxes, regional bathymetry, and large-scale circulation patterns. The meltwater forcing dominates the Antarctic shelf response and the models yield strikingly different responses along West Antarctica. The disagreement is attributable to the mean-state representation and meltwater-driven acceleration of the Antarctic Slope Current (ASC). In CM4, the meltwater is efficiently trapped on the shelf by a well resolved, strong, and accelerating ASC which isolates the West Antarctic shelf from warm offshore waters, leading to strong subsurface cooling. In ESM4, a weaker and diffuse ASC allows more meltwater to escape to the open ocean, the West Antarctic shelf does not become isolated, and instead strong subsurface warming occurs. The CM4 results suggest a possible negative feedback mechanism that acts to limit future melting, while the ESM4 results suggest a possible positive feedback mechanism that acts to accelerate melt. Our results demonstrate the strong influence the ASC has on governing changes along the shelf, highlighting the importance of coupling interactive ice sheet models to ocean models that can resolve these dynamical processes. © 2022. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.6 month embargo; first published: 28 April 2022This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]
The Arctic Ocean carbon sink
We present observation based estimates of the transport of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) across the four main Arctic Ocean gateways (Davis Strait, Fram Strait, Barents Sea Opening and Bering Strait). Combining a recently derived velocity field at these boundaries with measurements of DIC, we calculated a net summertime pan-Arctic export of View the MathML source. On an annual basis, we estimate that at least View the MathML source of this is due to uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere, although time-dependent changes in carbon storage are not quantified. To further understand the region's role as a carbon sink, we calculated the volume-conserved net DIC transport from beneath a prescribed mixed layer depth of 50 m, referred to as ‘interior transport’, revealing an export of View the MathML source. Applying a carbon framework to infer the sources of interior transport implied that this export is primarily due to the sinking and remineralisation of organic matter, highlighting the importance of the biological pump. Furthermore, we qualitatively show that the present day Arctic Ocean is accumulating anthropogenic carbon beneath the mixed layer, imported in Atlantic Water