Rapid subsurface warming and circulation changes of Antarctic coastal waters by poleward shifting winds
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Material Information

Title:
Rapid subsurface warming and circulation changes of Antarctic coastal waters by poleward shifting winds
Creator:
Paul Spence
Stephen M. Griffies
Matthew H. England
Andrew McC. Hogg
Oleg A. Saenko
Nicolas C. Jourdain
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales -- ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science
NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
University of New South Wales -- ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science
Australian National University -- School of Earth Sciences -- ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science and Research
Environment Canada -- Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis
Universite de Grenoble -- Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Geophysique de l'Environnement
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union Publications
Publication Date:
Language:
English

Notes

Abstract:
The southern hemisphere westerly winds have been strengthening and shifting poleward since the 1950s. This wind trend is projected to persist under continued anthropogenic forcing, but the impact of the changing winds on Antarctic coastal heat distribution remains poorly understood. Here we show that a poleward wind shift at the latitudes of the Antarctic Peninsula can produce an intense warming of subsurface coastal waters that exceeds 2°C at 200–700m depth. The model simulated warming results from a rapid advective heat flux induced by weakened near-shore Ekman pumping and is associated with weakened coastal currents. This analysis shows that anthropogenically induced wind changes can dramatically increase the temperature of ocean water at ice sheet grounding lines and at the base of floating ice shelves around Antarctica, with potentially significant ramifications for global sea level rise. ( English )

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Source Institution:
Florida International University
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Sea Level Rise