Year-round observations of the
Weddell Sea from Argo floats
Ethan Campbell intern
Prof. Stephen Riser mentor
Department of Geosciences
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
School of Oceanography
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and Weddell Sea
Weddell Sea
Stevens & Chiswell (2013) / Te Ara
Past observations of the Weddell Sea
• Extremely sparse (only 3000 ship-borne profiles since 1912)
• Almost all during austral summer
for scale,
New Jersey:
Robertson et al. (2002)
Argo float observations
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK
Argo floats in the Weddell Sea
A rare occurrence during mid-winter
A rare occurrence during mid-winter
Maud Rise
• Massive seamount
– 100 km in diameter (width
of New Jersey)
– Extends from 5000 m to
1600 m depth
• Impinging flow splits
– “Halo” of circulation
around column
– Warm water forced to
upwell
• Persistent low sea ice
concentration
Holland (2001)
A small polynya west of Maud Rise
Warm pool west of Maud Rise
Heat and salt budgets of the Weddell
Sea mixed layer + sea ice thickness
change in mixed layer depth
change in mixed layer salinity
inferred thermodynamic ice thickness
Wong & Riser (2011), from Martinson (1990)
Acknowledgements
• Princeton Environmental Institute for funding
• UW School of Oceanography:
– Special thanks to Prof. Stephen Riser
– Annie Wong
– Robert Drucker
– Dana Swift
– Rick Rupan & the Argo lab
• Princeton Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences:
– Prof. Jorge Sarmiento
– Hannah Zanowski