The Flow of Dense Water Plumes in the Western Weddell Sea Simulated with the Finite Element Ocean Model (FEOM) - Towards an Interdisciplinary Approach in Earth System Science - page 115

The Flow of Dense Water Plumes
in the Western Weddell Sea Simulated
with the Finite Element Ocean Model
(FEOM)

Mathias Rucker van Caspel, Jo o Marcelo Absy, Qiang Wang,

Hartmut H. Hellmer and Michael Schr

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Abstract Ocean simulations performed with the Finite Element Ocean Model
(FEOM) were used to show the relevance of the location of the dense water plume
source on the western Weddell Sea continental shelf. When the plume starts close to
the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula it

fl flows into Brans eld Strait, but if it is found

further south it can fl flow down the slope and contribute to Weddell Sea Deep Water

(WSDW). The in uence of density on the spreading was also tested indicating that

a denser plume reaches greater depths while lighter plumes do not interact with the
WSDW.

fl

Keywords Plume Larsen ice shelf Weddell Sea Deep Water Ocean model-

ling Brans eld strait

1 Introduction

The shelf waters from the northwestern Weddell Sea contribute to the production of
Weddell Sea Deep Water (WSDW) (e.g. Absy et al. 2008 ), which is one important
source of the water mass that

fills most of the world ocean abyss, the Antarctic
Bottom Water (AABW) (e.g. Orsi et al. 1999 ). Besides of this global relevance, part
of the water contours the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) and enters the Brans eld Strait,

playing an important role for the circulation of this region (e.g. Gordon et al. 2000 ;
Garc a et al. 2002 ).

WSDW is transported by the clockwise circulation of Weddell Gyre and is
formed by the mixture of Weddell Sea Bottom Water with Warm Deep Water

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