| Title | A first description of the Antarctic Peninsula Coastal Current |
| Author | Moffat, C.; Beardsley, R.C.; Owens, B.; van Lipzig, N.P.M. |
| Author Affil | Moffat, C., Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography, Woods Hole, MA. Other: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium |
| Source | Dynamics of plankton, krill, and predators in relation to environmental features of the western Antarctic Peninsula and related areas; SO GLOBEC Part II, edited by E.E. Hofmann, P.H. Wiebe, D.P. Costa and J.J. Torres. Deep-Sea Research. Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 55(3-4), p.277-293, . Publisher: Elsevier, Oxford, International. ISSN: 0967- 0645 |
| Publication Date | Feb. 2008 |
| Notes | In English. Based on Publisher- supplied data GeoRef Acc. No: 284400. CRREL Acc. No: 62003529 |
| Index Terms | ice; meteorology; ocean currents; salinity; temperature; Antarctica--Antarctic Peninsula; Southern Ocean; Antarctic Peninsula; Antarctic Peninsula Coastal Current; Antarctica; currents; fresh water; sea ice; sea water |
| Abstract | We present hydrographic and shipboard ADCP data collected during the fall (April/June) and winter (July/August) and moored velocity observations collected from 2001 to early 2002 on the west Antarctic Peninsula (wAP) shelf during the Southern Ocean Global Ecosystems Dynamics (SO GLOBEC) program. In fall, a geostrophically balanced, buoyant current flows southward along the coast. This Antarctic Peninsula Coastal Current (APCC) forms during the ice-free season and extends from Adelaide Island to Alexander Island, although its path inside Marguerite Bay is uncertain. During the fall of 2001, the APCC had a volume transport of 0.32±0.13Sv and a freshwater transport (relative to a reference salinity of 34.4) of 126±50km3yr-1. From early July to late October, the APCC disappears from the coast as the freshwater input from the coast diminishes and sea-ice forms on the shelf. An examination of the relative sizes of the freshwater sources suggests runoff from land and precipitation over the ocean are the primary sources for the APCC. |
| URL | http://hdl.handle.net/10.1016/j.dsr2.2007.10.003 |
| Publication Type | journal article |
| Record ID | 84071 |