Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
M. Mar Flexas, Andrew F. Thompson, Michael P. Schodlok, Hong Zhang, Kevin Speer
Summary: The observed acceleration of ice shelf basal melt rates throughout West Antarctica could destabilize continental ice sheets and markedly increase global sea level. Explanations for decadal-scale melt intensification have focused on processes local to shelf seas surrounding the ice shelves. A suite of process-based model experiments, guided by CMIP6 forcing scenarios, show that freshwater forcing from the Antarctic Peninsula, propagated between marginal seas by a coastal boundary current, causes enhanced melting throughout West Antarctica.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Benjamin J. Wallis, Anna E. Hogg, J. Melchior van Wessem, Benjamin J. Davison, Michiel R. van den Broeke
Summary: An analysis of satellite observations from 2014 to 2021 reveals that glaciers on the west Antarctic Peninsula experienced an average summer speed-up of 12.4% and a maximum speed change of 22.3%. This indicates a strong sensitivity of these glaciers to seasonal variations in the ice-ocean-atmosphere system, emphasizing the importance of accounting for seasonal speed variations when assessing the mass balance and sea level contribution of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Article
Oceanography
Renato M. Castelao, Michael S. Dinniman, Caitlin M. Amos, John M. Klinck, Patricia M. Medeiros
Summary: The Southern Ocean is characterized by high eddy activity and high POC content in summer, especially near Antarctica. Coastal water rich in POC is often trapped by nonlinear cyclonic eddies near the coast before being transported offshore. This leads to an enrichment of POC in offshore waters off the West Antarctic Peninsula.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-OCEANS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Hyewon Heather Kim, Ya-Wei Luo, Hugh W. Ducklow, Oscar M. Schofield, Deborah K. Steinberg, Scott C. Doney
Summary: The introduction of a one-dimensional variational data assimilation planktonic ecosystem model, optimized to capture key ecological features of the West Antarctic Peninsula, demonstrates the potential for successfully modeling the region's ecosystem dynamics.
GEOSCIENTIFIC MODEL DEVELOPMENT
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Tiago S. Dotto, Mauricio M. Mata, Rodrigo Kerr, Carlos A. E. Garcia
Summary: The northern Antarctic Peninsula (NAP) is a dynamic transitional zone affected by intense climate change, with water masses mainly originating from the Bellingshausen and Weddell seas. Limited understanding of the region's water masses and dynamic processes is attributed to sparse data coverage. The novel NAPv1.0 data set presented in this work provides a valuable tool for studying climatological changes in the NAP region.
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE DATA
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Ruth Moorman, Andrew F. Thompson, Earle A. Wilson
Summary: The melt rates of West Antarctic ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea are influenced by decadal variations in the volume of warm water at their outlets, which are generally attributed to wind-driven variations in warm water transport. However, this study introduces a simple model that suggests interannual variations in coastal polynya buoyancy forcing can also generate large decadal-scale variations in thermocline depth, even with a fixed supply of warm water from the shelf-break. This model demonstrates feedbacks between basal melt rates and ice front stratification strength, capturing observed variations in near-coast thermocline depth and stratification strength, and proposing an alternative mechanism for warm water volume changes compared to wind-driven theories.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Qi Zhu, Huadong Guo, Lu Zhang, Dong Liang, Xuting Liu, Heng Zhou, Yiting Gou
Summary: Ice shelves are crucial for the Antarctic ice sheet dynamic. Surface meltwater can irreversibly weaken ice shelves by adding hydrostatic pressure. High-resolution snowmelt products are urgently needed for accurate analysis of melting patterns and mass loss estimation. In this study, a new high-resolution snowmelt dataset was developed for Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves, providing detailed information on ice shelf coverage, melting area, and ratio. The melting patterns of three typical ice shelves and the spatio-temporal distribution of snowmelt on the Antarctic Peninsula were analyzed. The study reveals an increase in both extent and duration of snowmelt on the Antarctic Peninsula from 2015 to 2021, with significantly intense snowmelt observed on the western side. This study will provide essential data for ice shelf investigation and support other polar research fields.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DIGITAL EARTH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sergi Gonzalez-Herrero, David Barriopedro, Ricardo M. Trigo, Joan Albert Lopez-Bustins, Marc Oliva
Summary: In February 2020, the Antarctic Peninsula experienced anomalously warm temperatures and one of the most intense heatwaves ever recorded, with the intensity of the heatwave increasing by approximately 25% compared to the past, largely due to the long-term warming of the Antarctic Peninsula.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Max Thomas, Jeff K. Ridley, Inga J. Smith, David P. Stevens, Paul R. Holland, Shona Mackie
Summary: In this research, a coupled climate model is used to investigate the feedbacks between subsurface continental shelf ocean temperatures and Antarctic glacial melt. The model is forced with SSP5-8.5 and an uncoupled projection of basal melt and calving fluxes. The results show that additional glacial melt at depth cools certain seas, suggesting a negative feedback on basal melt. However, in other regions, additional glacial melt increases temperatures at the continental shelf sea floor, suggesting a positive feedback.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Gabriele Uenzelmann-Neben, Karsten Gohl, Katharina Hochmuth, Ulrich Salzmann, Robert D. Larter, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Johann P. Klages
Summary: Seismic imaging of a sediment drift on the Amundsen Sea Embayment shelf suggests that the growth of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet was hindered by the incursion of relatively warm circumpolar deep water as early as the Eocene-Oligocene transition. The study also concludes that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has likely experienced a strong oceanic influence on its dynamics since its formation.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
David J. Burdige, John P. Christensen
Summary: This study investigated iron biogeochemistry in continental margin sediments along the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, revealing variations in iron oxide content and properties at different depths, which are crucial for the support of primary productivity in the Southern Ocean.
GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Andrew G. Pauling, Cecilia M. Biti, Eric J. Steig
Summary: A series of climate model experiments were conducted to investigate the response of the climate system to changes in Antarctic topography. The results showed that the response over the continent is linear, while the response over the Southern Ocean has substantial nonlinear elements due to feedbacks with sea ice, ocean, and clouds. These findings are important for understanding the relationship between ice sheet height and local climate evolution.
JOURNAL OF CLIMATE
(2023)
Article
Limnology
Schuyler C. Nardelli, Patrick C. Gray, Sharon E. Stammerjohn, Oscar Schofield
Summary: The study focuses on the impact of changing sea ice seasons and meteoric water on phytoplankton community composition and cell size in coastal West Antarctic Peninsula waters. The research reveals that the variations in sea ice seasons have a significant effect on phytoplankton biomass and species composition, while cell diameter changes are related to precipitation. The tight coupling between sea ice, meltwater, and phytoplankton species composition suggests that continued warming in the area will have implications for seasonal dynamics in the ecosystem.
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Eduardo Santamaria-del-Angel, Mary-Luz Canon-Paez, Maria-Teresa Sebastia-Frasquet, Adriana Gonzalez-Silvera, Angelica-L. Gutierrez, Jesus-A. Aguilar-Maldonado, Jorge Lopez-Calderon, Victor Camacho-Ibar, Andres Franco-Herrera, Alejandra Castillo-Ramirez
Summary: This study aimed to describe interannual climate variability in the West Antarctic Peninsula, finding a pattern of warm followed by cold episodes and the presence of warm waters near the coast during warm episodes. The WAP can be divided into two ecoregions, and the Southern Annular Mode was identified as the primary driver of SST variability. Further research is needed to better understand regional climate variability in the WAP and its relation with SAM and ENSO.
Article
Oceanography
Zhaowei Wang, Jiliang Xuan, Faming Li, Jingling Ren, Daji Huang, Jing Zhang
Summary: The research discovered cross-shelf exchanges of dissolved aluminum in the East China Sea (ECS) during summer, mainly influenced by Ekman transport driven by the summer monsoon. The analysis revealed that the ECS acts as a significant source of dissolved aluminum to adjacent waters, with approximately 65% entering the East/Japan Sea, highlighting the importance of cross-shelf transport processes in the distribution and cycling of biogenic elements within China's marginal seas.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-OCEANS
(2021)
Article
Oceanography
Sian F. Henley, Oscar M. Schofield, Katharine R. Hendry, Irene R. Schloss, Deborah K. Steinberg, Carlos Moffat, Lloyd S. Peck, Daniel P. Costa, Dorothee C. E. Bakker, Claire Hughes, Patrick D. Rozema, Hugh W. Ducklow, Doris Abele, Jacqueline Stefels, Maria A. Van Leeuwe, Corina P. D. Brussaard, Anita G. J. Buma, Josh Kohut, Ricardo Sahade, Ari S. Friedlaender, Sharon E. Stammerjohn, Hugh J. Venables, Michael P. Meredith
PROGRESS IN OCEANOGRAPHY
(2019)
Article
Limnology
Filipa Carvalho, Jessica N. Fitzsimmons, Nicole Couto, Nicole Waite, Maxim Gorbunov, Josh Kohut, Matthew J. Oliver, Robert M. Sherrell, Oscar Schofield
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY
(2020)
Article
Limnology
Jonathan Sherman, Maxim Y. Gorbunov, Oscar Schofield, Paul G. Falkowski
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY
(2020)
Article
Limnology
Filipa Carvalho, Maxim Y. Gorbunov, Matthew J. Oliver, Christina Haskins, David Aragon, Josh T. Kohut, Oscar Schofield
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY-METHODS
(2020)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Stephanie H. O'Daly, Seth L. Danielson, Sarah M. Hardy, Russell R. Hopcroft, Catherine Lalande, Dean A. Stockwell, Andrew M. P. McDonnell
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2020)
Article
Limnology
Schuyler C. Nardelli, Megan A. Cimino, John A. Conroy, William R. Fraser, Deborah K. Steinberg, Oscar Schofield
Summary: The study conducted near Palmer Station, Antarctica, found that the Palmer Deep canyon is a biological hotspot supporting a large amount of phytoplankton and krill, attracting Adelie and gentoo penguins. The research showed that krill density was similar in two penguin foraging regions, but longer and larger krill swarms were found in the gentoo penguin region.
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY
(2021)
Article
Limnology
Michael S. Brown, Jeff S. Bowman, Yajuan Lin, Colette J. Feehan, Carly M. Moreno, Nicolas Cassar, Adrian Marchetti, Oscar M. Schofield
Summary: The West Antarctic Peninsula is experiencing rapid warming and melting, impacting the regional marine food web. This study focused on cryptophyte diversity along the Peninsula, revealing two major taxa dominating the community. Changes in oceanographic conditions were associated with shifts in cryptophyte community composition.
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
C. Schultz, S. C. Doney, J. Hauck, M. T. Kavanaugh, O. Schofield
Summary: The ocean coastal-shelf-slope ecosystem west of the Antarctic Peninsula is a region with high biological productivity and potential carbon sink, where the duration of the sea-ice season affects biological productivity and surface dissolved inorganic carbon levels. The impact of sea ice on phytoplankton is complex, with early sea-ice retreat leading to longer growth seasons and late retreat resulting in larger surface DIC drawdown.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Oceanography
Michael P. Meredith, Sharon E. Stammerjohn, Hugh W. Ducklow, Melanie J. Leng, Carol Arrowsmith, J. Alexander Brearley, Hugh J. Venables, Mark Barham, Jan Melchior van Wessem, Oscar Schofield, Nicole Waite
Summary: The west Antarctic Peninsula experiences significant climatic variability due to changes in sea ice extent, glacier retreat, and precipitation patterns. Isotopic analysis of seawater helps to attribute changes in oceanic freshwater to sea ice and meteoric sources, revealing the spatial scales over which these processes operate. Sea ice melt and meteoric water exhibit seasonality and interannual variability, with distinct impacts on ocean stratification and marine biogeochemical processes.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-OCEANS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Catherine Lalande, Jacqueline M. Grebmeier, Andrew M. P. McDonnell, Russell R. Hopcroft, Stephanie O'Daly, Seth L. Danielson
Summary: Unusually warm conditions in the Pacific Arctic region led to a dramatic loss of sea ice cover and increased inflow of warm Pacific waters, impacting the sinking particles of phytoplankton and zooplankton communities. Spatial and temporal variations in living algal cells, chlorophyll a, total particulate matter, particulate organic carbon, zooplankton fecal pellets, and zooplankton and meroplankton fluxes were observed from 2017 to 2019, showing the effects of sea ice cover and water temperature on biological processes.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jacob A. Cram, Clara A. Fuchsman, Megan E. Duffy, Jessica L. Pretty, Rachel M. Lekanoff, Jacquelyn A. Neibauer, Shirley W. Leung, Klaus B. Huebert, Thomas S. Weber, Daniele Bianchi, Natalya Evans, Allan H. Devol, Richard G. Keil, Andrew M. P. McDonnell
Summary: Particle flux attenuation is lower in anoxic environments compared to oxic environments. Microbial metabolism and zooplankton aggregation and disaggregation play important roles in shaping the particle flux. Observing and modeling particle spectra provide insights into these processes. The study found that particle flux attenuated very little throughout the anoxic water column. Large particles mainly disaggregated into smaller particles between the base of the photic zone and 500m. Many organisms migrated to regions with high particle disaggregation during the day.
GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Miguel Bascur, Simon A. Morley, Michael P. Meredith, Carlos P. Munoz-Ramirez, David K. A. Barnes, Irene R. Schloss, Chester J. Sands, Oscar Schofield, Alejandro Roman-Gonzalez, Leyla Cardenas, Hugh Venables, Antonio Brante, Angel Urzua
Summary: The Western Antarctic Peninsula demonstrates significant spatial variation in biochemical composition and energy content, which can be attributed to biological and environmental characteristics.
Article
Limnology
Schuyler C. Nardelli, Patrick C. Gray, Sharon E. Stammerjohn, Oscar Schofield
Summary: The study focuses on the impact of changing sea ice seasons and meteoric water on phytoplankton community composition and cell size in coastal West Antarctic Peninsula waters. The research reveals that the variations in sea ice seasons have a significant effect on phytoplankton biomass and species composition, while cell diameter changes are related to precipitation. The tight coupling between sea ice, meltwater, and phytoplankton species composition suggests that continued warming in the area will have implications for seasonal dynamics in the ecosystem.
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Claudine Hauri, Remi Pages, Andrew M. P. McDonnell, Malte F. Stuecker, Seth L. Danielson, Katherine Hedstrom, Brita Irving, Cristina Schultz, Scott C. Doney
Summary: Variability in local wind stress curl and sea surface height in the subpolar gyre can impact upwelling of carbon-rich waters and apparent surface ocean acidification rates in the Gulf of Alaska. Decadal wind patterns play a significant role in enhancing ocean acidification rates in this region.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Sarah Lou Carolin Giering, Emma Louise Cavan, Sunnje Linnea Basedow, Nathan Briggs, Adrian B. Burd, Louise J. Darroch, Lionel Guidi, Jean-Olivier Irisson, Morten H. Iversen, Rainer Kiko, Dhugal Lindsay, Catarina R. Marcolin, Andrew M. P. McDonnell, Klas Ove Moeller, Uta Passow, Sandy Thomalla, Thomas William Trull, Anya M. Waite
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2020)