GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE
The SCAR-MarBIN “area of interest” is the Southern Ocean in its wide sense, as used by
oceanographers (e.g. Deacon 1984, Tréguer & Jacques 1992, Longhurst 1998, Rintoul
2007).
The priority however is the Antarctic region (Southern Ocean s.s. or “Antarctic Ocean”),
i.e. the water masses extending south of the Polar Front (formerly known as the Antarctic
Convergence) to the coasts of the Antarctic continent. All taxa occurring south of the Polar
Front should be included in RAMS, as well as (as far as possible) all georeferenced records
in SCAR-MarBIN.
The sub-Antarctic region, here defined as the expanses of water extending from the Polar
Front in the south to the Subtropical front in the north (see precisions below), will be covered
in a second step.
A general map of the SCAR-MarBIN area of interest can be found at
http://www.scarmarbin.be/photo_gallery.php?album=238&pic=15649
The location of the various hydrographic fronts of the Southern Ocean is based on Orsi et al.
(1995), as modified by Moore et al. (1999) for the location of Antarctic Polar Front south of
Kerguelen Islands on the Kerguelen Plateau.
See AAD Southern Ocean maps 2006, downloadable as pdf’s at:
http://www.scarmarbin.be/documents/sthn_ocean_west_300dpi_13276.pdf
http://www.scarmarbin.be/documents/sthn_ocean_east_300dpi_13277.pdf
ANTARCTIC ZONE (Southern Ocean s.s.):
- True northern limit: Antarctic Polar Front (or Antarctic Convergence, 48°S to 63°S,
convenient average limit: 55°S).
- Operational northern limits for data coverage needs (see map):
South Atlantic
- Between 60°W and 50°W:
57°S
- Between 50°W and 30°E:
50°S (same limits as CCAMLR)
Indian Ocean
- Between 30°E and 80°E:
- Between 80°E and 150°E:
50°S
55°S (same limits as CCAMLR)
South Pacific
- Between 150°E and 60°W:
60°S (same limits as CCAMLR)
SUB-ANTARCTIC ZONE
- True southern limit: the Antarctic Polar Front
- True northern limit: the northernmost limit of the Southern Ocean s.l. i.e. the
northern limit of the extension of the sub-Antarctic water masses, which corresponds
to the (nearly) circumpolar sub-Tropical Front (30°S to 47°S, convenient average limit:
43°S).
In addition to the open ocean zones defined by hydrographic fronts, the SCARMarBIN “area of interest” has also to take into account the sub-Antarctic coastal
zones, in particular in southern South America (i.e. the sub-Antarctic Magellanic
biogeographic province; see e.g. Boltovskoy et al. 1999; Lopez Gappa et al. 2006; De
Broyer et al. 2007) and the various islands of the sub-Antarctic region (e.g. the New
Zealand sub-Antarctic islands such as The Snares, Antipodes and Bounty; see e.g.
Knox 1987)
- Operational northern limits for data coverage needs (see map):
South Atlantic and Indian Ocean
- Between 65°W and 140°E:
43°S
Pacific Ocean
- Between 140°E and 176°W:
- Between 176°W and 80°W:
- Between 80°W and 72°W:
48°S
45°S
41°S
Useful references:
Boltovskoy D., Gibbons M.J., Hutchings L. & Binet D., 1999. General biological features of the South
Atlantic. In: Boltovskoy D. (Ed.), 1999. South Atlantic Zooplankton. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden. Vol.
1, pp. 1-42.
Deacon G.E.R., 1984. The Antarctic circumpolar ocean. Cambridge University Press. 180 pp.
De Broyer C., Lowry, J.K., Jazdzewski, K., & Robert, H., 2007. Catalogue of the Gammaridean and
Corophiidean Amphipoda (Crustacea) of the Southern Ocean with distribution and ecological data. In:
De Broyer C. (Ed.). Census of Antarctic Marine Life. Synopsis of the Amphipoda of the Southern
Ocean. Vol. 1. Bull. Inst. r. Sci. nat. Belg., Biol., 77, Suppl. 1, part 1: 1-325.
Knox G.A., 1987. Littoral ecology of the subantarctic region: with special reference to the New Zealand
subantarctic islands. In: Colloque sur l’écologie marine des îles subantarctiques et antarctiques, Paris.
CNFRA, 57: 47–79.
Longhurst A.R., 1998. Ecological geography of the sea. Academic Press, 402 pp.
Lopez Gappa J., Alonso G.M., Landoni N.A., 2006. Biodiversity of benthic Amphipoda (Crustacea:
Peracarida) in the Southwest Atlantic between 35°S and 56°S. Zootaxa 1342: 1-66.
Moore J.K., Abbott M.R. & Richman J.G., 1999. Location and dynamics of the Antarctic Polar Front
from satellite sea surface temperature data. J. Geophys. Res. 104 (C2): 3059-3073.
Rintoul S., 2007. Antarctic Circumpolar Current. In: Riffenburgh B. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of the Antarctic.
Routledge, 234-239.
Orsi A.H., Whitworth T. & Nowlin W.D. 1995. On the meridional extent and fronts of the Antarctic
Circumpolar Current. Deep-Sea Res. I 42(5): 641-673.
Tréguer P. & Jacques G. 1992. Dynamics of nutrients and phytoplankton, and fluxes of carbon,
nitrogen and silicon in the Antarctic Ocean (Review). Polar Biol. 12 (2): 149-162.