Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2021

DOI

10.1029/2020JC016791

Publication Title

Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans

Volume

126

Issue

3

Pages

1-13

Abstract

The Southern Ocean is characterized by high eddy activity and high particulate organic carbon (POC) content during summer, especially near Antarctica. Because it encircles the globe, it provides a pathway for inter‐basin exchange. Here, we use satellite observations and a high‐resolution ocean model to quantify offshore transport of coastal water rich in POC off the West Antarctic Peninsula. We show that nonlinear cyclonic eddies generated near the coast often trap coastal water rich in POC during formation before propagating offshore. As a result, cyclones found offshore that were generated near the coast have on average higher POC content in their interior than cyclones generated locally offshore. This results in a POC enrichment of 5.7 ± 3.0 Gg C year−1 in offshore waters off the Peninsula. Actual POC enrichment is likely substantially larger, since about half of the volume transport of coastal water is driven by small eddies that are missed by observations.

Rights

An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. © 2021 American Geophysical Union.

To view the published open abstract, go to http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016791.

Data Availability

Article states: "Observations are available at www.aviso.altimetry.fr (global mesoscale eddy trajectory product), https://resources.marine.copernicus.eu/?option=com_csw&task=results (SEALEVEL_GLO_PHY_CLIMATE_L4_REP_OBSERVATIONS_008_057), https://oceandata.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/SeaWiFS (daily, 9 km, Rrs_443, and Rrs_555), and https://pal.lternet.edu/data (Organic Matter, Particulate Organic Carbon and Nitrogen, cruise and station). Model codes are available at www.myroms.org Model outputs used for this analysis are available at BCO-DMO (https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/831045)."

Original Publication Citation

Castelao, R. M., Dinniman, M. S., Amos, C. M., Klinck, J. M., & Medeiros, P. M. (2021). Eddy‐driven transport of particulate organic carbon‐rich coastal water off the West Antarctic Peninsula. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 126(3), 1-13, Article e2020JC016791. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016791

ORCID

0000-0001-7519-9278 (Dinniman), 0000-0003-4312-5201 (Klinck)

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