Winter thermohaline evolution along and below the Ross Ice Shelf.

The Ross Ice Shelf floats above the southern sector of the Ross Sea and creates a cavity where critical ocean-ice interactions take place. Crucial processes occurring in this cavity include the formation of Ice Shelf Water, the coldest ocean water, and the intrusion of Antarctic Surface Water, the main driver of frontal and basal melting. During the winter, a polynya forms along the Ross Ice Shelf edge, producing a precursor to Antarctic Bottom Water known as High Salinity Shelf Water.

Life strategy of Antarctic silverfish promote large carbon export in Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea.

Antarctic silverfish Pleuragramma antarcticum is the most abundant pelagic fish in the High Antarctic shelf waters of the Southern Ocean, where it plays a pivotal role in the trophic web as the major link between lower and higher trophic levels. Despite the ecological importance of this species, knowledge about its role in the biogeochemical cycle is poor. We determine the seasonal contribution of Antarctic silverfish to carbon flux in terms of faeces and eggs, from samples collected in the Ross Sea.

Tides regulate the flow and density of Antarctic Bottom Water from the western Ross Sea.

Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) stores heat and gases over decades to centuries after contact with the atmosphere during formation on the Antarctic shelf and subsequent flow into the global deep ocean. Dense water from the western Ross Sea, a primary source of AABW, shows changes in water properties and volume over the last few decades. Here we show, using multiple years of moored observations, that the density and speed of the outflow are consistent with a release from the Drygalski Trough controlled by the density in Terra Nova Bay (the "accelerator") and the tidal mixing (the "brake").