Moving to the South Pole

McBride, Margaret Mary

doi:10.1038/s41558-019-0396-x

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 9 publications

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“…Polynyas Winter sea ice projections in the Ross Sea can be the first locations exposed to light in the Antarctic spring and summer, and as a result the Ross Sea has elevated primary production in polynya regions and acts as a carbon sink (Arrigo and van Dijken, 2003;Ackley et al, 2020). Large phytoplankton blooms in polynya regions support large quantities of krill (Azzali and Kalinowski, 2000), and krill are both a source of food for upper trophic levels (McBride, 2019) and a focus for commercial fishing (Brooks et al, 2019). Polynyas have also been identified as crucial habitat for seals and penguins (Labrousse et al, 2018(Labrousse et al, , 2019.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Projections of Winter Polynyas and Their Biophysical Impacts in the Ross Sea Antarctica

DuVivier

Molina

Holland

et al. 2023

Preprint

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This study investigates winter polynyas in the southern Ross Sea, Antarctica where several polynyas are known to form. Coastal polynyas are areas of lower sea ice concentration and/or thickness along the coast that are otherwise surrounded by the thicker ice pack, and polynyas are locations where organisms can exploit both the ice substrate and pelagic resources. Using a self organizing map algorithm, we identify polynya events in the Community Earth System Model Version 2 Large Ensemble (CESM2-LE). The neural network algorithm is able to identify polynya events without imposing an ice concentration or thickness threshold, as is often done when identifying polynyas. The CESM2-LE produces a wintertime polynya feature comparable in size and location to the Ross Sea polynya, and during polynya events there are large turbulent heat fluxes and export of sea ice from the Ross Sea. In the CESM2-LE polynya event frequency is projected to decrease sharply in the later 21st century, leading to increasing sea ice concentrations and thicknesses in the region. The drivers of the polynya frequency decline are likely both large scale circulation changes and local atmosphere and ocean feedbacks. Changes in wintertime polynya frequency over the 21st century may impact local net primary productivity, which has the potential for cascading effects up the food chain. Improving understanding of the biogeophysical relationships will be important for assessing how the Ross Sea ecosystem, which is currently protected by an internationally recognized marine protected area, may be vulnerable in the future in unexpected ways.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Projections of Winter Polynyas and Their Biophysical Impacts in the Ross Sea Antarctica

DuVivier

Molina

Holland

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Projections of winter polynyas and their biophysical impacts in the Ross Sea Antarctica

DuVivier,

Molina,

Deppenmeier

et al. 2023

Clim Dyn

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This study investigates winter polynyas in the southern Ross Sea, Antarctica where several polynyas are known to form. Coastal polynyas are areas of lower sea ice concentration and/or thickness along the coast that are otherwise surrounded by more extensive, thicker sea ice pack. Polynyas are also locations where organisms can exploit both the ice substrate and pelagic resources. Using a self organizing map algorithm, we identify polynya events in the Community Earth System Model Version 2 Large Ensemble (CESM2-LE). The neural network algorithm is able to identify polynya events without imposing an ice concentration or thickness threshold, as is often done when identifying polynyas. The CESM2-LE produces a wintertime polynya feature comparable in size and location to the Ross Sea polynya, and during polynya events there are large turbulent heat fluxes and export of sea ice from the Ross Sea. In the CESM2-LE polynya event frequency is projected to decrease sharply in the later twentyfirst century, leading to increasing sea ice concentrations and thicknesses in the region. The drivers of the polynya frequency decline are likely both large scale circulation changes and local atmosphere and ocean feedbacks. If declines in wintertime polynya frequency over the twentyfirst century do occur they may impact Antarctic Bottom Water formation and local net primary productivity. Thus, better understanding potential local and unexpected sea ice changes in the Ross Sea is important for both assessing climate system impacts and ecological impacts on the Ross Sea ecosystem, which is currently protected by an internationally recognized marine protected area.

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Moving to the South Pole

Cited by 2 publications

References 9 publications

Projections of Winter Polynyas and Their Biophysical Impacts in the Ross Sea Antarctica

Projections of Winter Polynyas and Their Biophysical Impacts in the Ross Sea Antarctica

Projections of winter polynyas and their biophysical impacts in the Ross Sea Antarctica

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