Where is circumpolar deep water?

Antarctic
Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) is a key component of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current[3]. In the Amundsen Sea, CDW is found near to the shelf break, where the continental shelf acts as a large topographic barrier for the majority of the deep water.

Where is AABW formed?

The AABW is formed in the Weddell and Ross Seas, off the Adélie Coast and by Cape Darnley from surface water cooling in polynyas and below the ice shelf. A unique feature of AABW is the cold surface wind blowing off the Antarctic continent (Fig. 3.60).

Why is Antarctic bottom water important?

The major significance of Antarctic bottom water is that it is the coldest bottom water, giving it a significant influence on the movement of the world’s oceans. Antarctic bottom water also has a high oxygen content relative to the rest of the oceans’ deep waters.

Is AABW saltier than NADW?

The census results suggest that AABW occupies roughly twice the volume of NADW in the three main oceans, and that AABW is in contact with roughly twice the area of the deep main ocean floor compared with NADW.

What is the cause of deep ocean currents?

Deep ocean currents When ocean water freezes, forming sea ice, salt is left behind causing surrounding seawater to become saltier and denser. Dense-cold-salty water sinks to the ocean bottom. Surface water flows in to replace the sinking water, which in turn becomes cold and salty enough to sink.

What drives the Antarctic Circumpolar Current?

Dynamics. The circumpolar current is driven by the strong westerly winds in the latitudes of the Southern Ocean. The increasing eastward momentum imparted by the winds causes water parcels to drift outward from the axis of the Earth’s rotation (in other words, northward) as a result of the Coriolis force.

What is the coldest body of water on Earth?

Antarctic sea ice
A “supercoolometer”, a device that sounds like it should be used to measure hipsters, has found the coldest seawater on Earth, under Antarctic sea ice. NIWA oceanographer Dr Craig Stevens and his team are researching why, in a warming world, sea ice is growing in the Antarctic even though it is receding in the Arctic.

How deep is the water under Antarctica?

The surface of this fresh water lake is approximately 4,000 m (13,100 ft) under the surface of the ice, which places it at approximately 500 m (1,600 ft) below sea level.

Which thermohaline current is the least dense?

AAIW
AAIW means Antarctic Intermediate Water. It originates in the oceans north of Antarctica at about 55°S latitude and descends down below the surface waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. It sits atop all the other thermohaline currents, which means it must be the least dense.

Which current is the densest?

The densest deep water mass is formed in the Weddell Sea of Antarctica, and becomes the Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW). Similar processes in the North Atlantic produce the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) in the Greenland Sea (Figure 9.8.

What is the fastest current in the ocean?

Gulf Stream Velocity
Gulf Stream Velocity. The Gulf Stream is the fastest ocean current in the world with peak velocities near 2m/s.

What kind of water is the circumpolar deep water?

Circumpolar Deep Water ( CDW) is a designation given to the water mass in the Pacific and Indian oceans that essentially characterizes a mixing of other water masses in the region.

What are the two types of deep water?

CDW has two basic types: (1) Upper Circumpolar Deep Water (UCDW) is identified by the oxygen minimum and elevated nutrient concentrations, and has an open ocean depth range of ~ 1,4002,500 m, and (2) Lower Circumpolar Deep Water (LCDW) whose signature is the salinity maximum (34.70-34.75 psu) (Gordon, 1975; Orsi et al., 1995).

What kind of water is below the WAP?

Below WWisawarmandsaltywatermasscalledmodifiedCircum- polar Deep Water (mCDW), a slightly colder and fresher version of the oceanic Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW), found along the shelf break of the wAP. [3]

What kind of deep water is lcdw found in?

LCDW was found in several deep depressionsconnectedtotheshelfbreak,includingMargueriteTrough,formingatongueof relatively dense water 95 m thick (on average) that reaches into Marguerite Bay through Marguerite Trough.