Sea ice conditions during an early spring voyage in the eastern Weddell Sea, Antarctica

Polar Record ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 24 (148) ◽  
pp. 49-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Eicken ◽  
T. C. Grenfell ◽  
B. Stonehouse
Keyword(s):  
Open Water ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Pack Ice ◽  
Large Populations ◽  
Differential Expansion ◽  
Ice Pack

AbstractDuring a late winter and early spring oceanographic voyage south into the Weddell Sea the icebreaker RV Polarstern first encountered patches and bands of loose floes in 58°S; these increased over the next 150 km to form closed ice pack which extended 1000 km to the coast. Along the coast the ship encountered almost continuous shore leads and polynyas that formed repeatedly despite persistently low air and sea temperatures. These areas of open water, which are generally visible in USA NOAA and USSR METEOR satellite photographs, form under the action of strong offshore winds that carry the main body of pack ice west and southwest. Grease ice, pancake ice and nilas spreading over the open water are rafted and ridged by windgenerated stresses to double thickness or more; these kinds of ice were continually driven westward, accumulating in a distinctive zone along the eastern edge of the pack ice. Polynyas and leads narrow and disappear temporarily only when winds with northerly or westerly components bring the pack ice toward the land, and reform as soon as offshore winds predominate. Open water, often more than 15 km wide, was present close to the ship throught the spring voyage, facilitating oceanographic work as far south as 77°S. Polarstern's full icebreaking capacity was needed only occasionally when winds temporarily pressed the pack ice against the coast. The presence throughout early spring of both fast and pack ice, separated by a zone of thin ice or open water, is essential to large populations of Weddell seals, emperor penguins and whales in the area. The transect from the continent included ice pack that was undergoing early summer decay, characterized by differential expansion and melting which brought about a gradual decrease in concentration toward the ice edge.

scholarly journals Albedo of the ice covered Weddell and Bellingshausen Seas

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 479-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. I. Weiss ◽  
J. C. King ◽  
T. A. Lachlan-Cope ◽  
R. S. Ladkin
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Surface Albedo ◽  
Austral Summer ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
First Year ◽  
Pack Ice ◽  
Bellingshausen Sea ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. This study investigates the surface albedo of the sea ice areas adjacent to the Antarctic Peninsula during the austral summer. Aircraft measurements of the surface albedo, which were conducted in the sea ice areas of the Weddell and Bellingshausen Seas show significant differences between these two regions. The averaged surface albedo varied between 0.13 and 0.81. The ice cover of the Bellingshausen Sea consisted mainly of first year ice and the sea surface showed an averaged sea ice albedo of αi = 0.64 ± 0.2 (± standard deviation). The mean sea ice albedo of the pack ice area in the western Weddell Sea was αi = 0.75 ± 0.05. In the southern Weddell Sea, where new, young sea ice prevailed, a mean albedo value of αi = 0.38 ± 0.08 was observed. Relatively warm open water and thin, newly formed ice had the lowest albedo values, whereas relatively cold and snow covered pack ice had the highest albedo values. All sea ice areas consisted of a mixture of a large range of different sea ice types. An investigation of commonly used parameterizations of albedo as a function of surface temperature in the Weddell and Bellingshausen Sea ice areas showed that the albedo parameterizations do not work well for areas with new, young ice.

New records of mummified crabeater seals on islands bordering Admiralty Sound, Weddell Sea

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 109-115
Author(s):  
Javier Negrete ◽  
Leopoldo H. Soibelzon ◽  
Esteban Soibelzon ◽  
Jorge Lusky
Keyword(s):  
Open Water ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
Pack Ice ◽  
Breeding Grounds ◽  
Ice Conditions ◽  
Crabeater Seals ◽  
Ice Floes ◽  
Early Breakup ◽  
Natural Trap ◽  
Seymour Island

AbstractNinety-six mummified crabeater seals discovered at Seymour Island (Isla Marambio) are reported. Each specimen was georeferenced, photographed and assigned to five different taphonomic states. Previous work stated that seals at Seymour Island get stranded inland around the breeding season. However, it is not clear if the species breeds in this area. The abundance of crabeater seals and the ice condition along Admiralty Sound (Estrecho Bouchard) were obtained by aerial surveys during spring (2015–17). It appears that the species uses the strait as a passage to breeding grounds. Under heavy ice conditions, the seals become stranded in the middle section of this strait and wander inland through a valley that represents the mouth of an ephemeral stream that ends at the pack ice level. This situation was observed in 2014 and 2015 when recently dead seals were found, evidencing that this natural trap is still active. Nonetheless, in 2016 and 2017, during an early breakup of Admiralty Sound, the seals that remained in the area were more numerous than in 2015 but they did not get stranded inland. This early breakup may encourage the seals to breed there in the presence of open water areas with ice floes.

Low phytoplankton biomass and ice algal blooms in the Weddell Sea during the ice-filled summer of 1997

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELSE N. HEGSETH ◽  
CECILIE H. VON QUILLFELDT
Keyword(s):  
Algal Blooms ◽  
Phytoplankton Bloom ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
Ice Algae ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Growth Season ◽  
Pack Ice ◽  
Phaeocystis Antarctica ◽  
Upper Mixed Layer

The summer of 1997 was characterized by unusually large amounts of pack ice in the southeastern Weddell Sea, and less than 10% of the area that is commonly ice-free in summer was open. A modest phytoplankton bloom developed in the upper mixed layer in the northernmost area (72°S). The bloom peaked in mid-February with max chlorophyll concentrations of 1.5 μg l−1, and integrated stocks of 55–60 mg m−2. Autotrophic flagellates dominated the biomass (80–90% of the chlorophyll) at first, while diatoms increased relative to flagellates during the bloom. Nutrient deficits, however, indicated that a much larger biomass was produced than was observed. Freezing starting after mid-February probably terminated the bloom, resulting in a pelagic growth season limited in time (less than two months) and space. The sea ice had a distinct brown layer of algae, usually at 1–2 m depth, with average chlorophyll biomass of 10.3 mg m−2. The ice cover exhibited a substantial amount of ridges, with ice algae growing in cavities and other structures, but with lower biomass than in the bands. Ice algae were also found growing on the lower 2 m of the ice shelf (visible at low tide). The overall growth season in the ice lasted several months, and ice algal production may have exceeded pelagic production in the Weddell Sea during the growth season of 1997. Pennate diatoms, like Fragilariopsis curta and F. cylindrus, dominated both in ice and in open water above the pycnocline, while Phaeocystis antarctica dominated in deeper layers and in crack pools. Euphausiids, particularly young stages, were frequently observed grazing on ice algae in ridges and on all sides of the floes, (confirmed by the gut content). Ice algae would thus have served as an ample food supply for the krill in the summer of 1997.

Spring distribution, size composition and behaviour of krill Euphausia superba in the western Weddell Sea

Polar Record ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 26 (157) ◽  
pp. 85-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.I. Bergström ◽  
G. Hempel ◽  
H.-P. Marschall ◽  
A. North ◽  
V. Siegel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Algal Growth ◽  
Size Composition ◽  
Water Layer ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Euphausia Superba ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
Ice Algae ◽  
Remotely Operated Vehicle ◽  
Direct Observations ◽  
Pack Ice

AbstractDistribution, size composition and behaviour of Euphausia superba were investigated in the northwestern Weddell Sea (59–63°S, 45–52°W) in October-November 1988 using RMT trawling, SCUBA diving and visual examination of the ice undersurface using a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV). Amounts of krill washed onto the ice during ice-breaking along transects were noted. Juvenile and sub-adult krill were found, often in high numbers, in association with seasonal pack-ice, from the outer marginal ice zone to at least 200 nautical miles [3 50 km] into the closed pack-ice zone. Krill caught with the RMT or observed within or close to the ice usually had full guts. They were frequently seen feeding on ice algae, and seemed to concentrate in pressure zones, melting ice and infiltration layers, ie where ice provided both confining crevices and rich algal growth. During twilight numbers of krill increased in open water close to the ice, though ROV observations at night revealed even greater numbers remaining in ice cavities. Direct observations from deck, by divers and by ROV, confirmed that most of the krill population in the uppermost water layer was confined to ice habitats, though in three out of 20 RMT catches krill reached densities of 0.1 nr3 ie normal summer values. ‘Miniswarms’ forming in early November may indicate seasonal transition of at least part of the krill population from winter ice habitat and grazing on ice-algae, to summer pelagic life and filter-feeding on phytoplankton.

scholarly journals The Ronne polynya of 1997/98: observations of air-ice-ocean interaction

2001 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 425-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. F. Ackley ◽  
C. A. Geiger ◽  
J. C. King ◽  
E. C. Hunke ◽  
J. Comiso
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
Ice Formation ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Wind Fields ◽  
Ice Shelf

AbstractThe Ronne polynya formed in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica, during the period November 1997−February 1998 to an extent not seen previously in the 25 years of all-weather satellite observations. The vessel HMS Endurance traversed the polynya region and took sea-ice, physical oceanographic and meteorological measurements during January and early February 1998. These observations, together with satellite imagery and weather records, were analyzed to determine the causes of the anomalous condition observed and to provide comparisons for numerical modeling experiments. The polynya area, analyzed from satellite imagery, showed a linear, nearly constant, increase with time from mid-November 1997 through February 1998. It had a maximum open-water area of 3 × 105 km2 and extended 500 km north of the Ronne Ice Shelf (at 76° S) to 70° S. The ice and snow structure of floes at the northern edge of the polynya showed the ice there had formed in the previous mid- to late winter (October 1997 or earlier) and had been advected there either from the eastern Weddell Sea or from the front of the Ronne Ice Shelf. Analyses of the wind fields showed anomalous spring-summer wind fields in the polynya year, with a strong southerly to southwesterly component compared to the mean easterly winds typical of summer conditions. These southerly wind conditions, in both magnitude and direction, therefore account for the drift of ice northward. The predominant summer easterly winds usually fill the southern Weddell Sea with ice from the east, and the high-albedo surfaces reflect the solar radiation, preventing warming of the surface ocean waters and consequent sea-ice melt. Instead, high incident solar radiation from November 1997 to February 1998 was absorbed by the open water, rather than being reflected, thereby both melting ice and preventing ice formation, and thereby sustaining the polynya. We conclude that open-water-albedo feedback is necessary to allow the observed polynya formation, since similar drift conditions prevail in winter (arising from southerly winds also) and usually result in extensive new ice formation in front of the Ronne Ice Shelf. The strong southerly winds therefore have quite opposing seasonal effects, leading to high ice production in winter as usually found, and extensive open water if they occur in spring and summer, as seen in this atypical event in 1997/98. In this case, the atypical southerly winds may be associated with an El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-induced atmospheric circulation pattern.

Seasonal dynamics of Proteocephalus sagittus in the stone loach Barbatula barbatula from the Haná River, Czech Republic

2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 225-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Jarkovský ◽  
B. Koubková ◽  
T. Scholz ◽  
M. Prokeš ◽  
V. Baruš
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Seasonal Cycle ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Fish Host ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Stone Loach ◽  
Barbatula Barbatula ◽  
Infection Parameters ◽  
First Time

AbstractThe seasonal cycle of the cestode Proteocephalus sagittus (Cestoda: Proteocephalidae) was studied for the first time in the stone loach Barbatula barbatula from the Haná River, Czech Republic. A total of 180 loaches were examined monthly from January to December 2001. The parasite occurred in loaches throughout the year but infection parameters differed significantly among seasons, with the highest values of prevalence and abundance from the late winter to the early summer. Parasite recruitment took place in the winter and early spring and the worms sexually matured in the late spring and early summer. In contrast to P. torulosus, the gravid worms of which laid eggs only at the end of the spring/beginning of the summer, gravid worms of P. sagittus were also found, although in low numbers, in the autumn and early winter. The rate of infection of loach with P. sagittus was neither dependent on the sex nor on the size of its fish host.

scholarly journals Organic matter pathways to zooplankton and benthos under pack ice in late winter and open water in late summer in the north-central Bering Sea

2005 ◽  
Vol 291 ◽  
pp. 135-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
JR Lovvorn ◽  
LW Cooper ◽  
ML Brooks ◽  
CC De Ruyck ◽  
JK Bump ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Bering Sea ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
North Central ◽  
The North ◽  
Pack Ice

scholarly journals The microwave emissivity variability of snow covered first-year sea ice from late winter to early summer: a model study

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 5711-5734 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Willmes ◽  
M. Nicolaus ◽  
C. Haas
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
Microwave Emission ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Emission Model ◽  
Regional Variability ◽  
Sea Ice Concentration ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Microwave Emissivity

Abstract. Satellite observations of microwave brightness temperatures between 19 GHz and 85 GHz are the main data source for operational sea-ice monitoring. However, the sea ice microwave emissivity is subject to pronounced seasonal variations and shows significant hemispheric contrasts that mainly arise from differences in the rate and strength of snow metamorphism and melt. We use the thermodynamic snow model SNTHERM and the microwave emission model MEMLS to identify the contribution of regional patterns in atmospheric energy fluxes to surface emissivity variations on Arctic and Antarctic sea ice between 2000 and 2009. The obtained emissivity data reveal a pronounced seasonal cycle with a large regional variability. The emissivity variability increases from winter to early summer and is more pronounced in the Antarctic. In the pre-melt period (January–May, July–November) the variations in surface microwave emissivity due to diurnal, regional and inter-annual variability of atmospheric forcing reach up to 3.4%, 4.3%, and 9.7% for 19 GHz, 37 GHz and 85 GHz channels, respectively. Small but significant emissivity trends can be observed in the Weddell Sea during November and December as well as in Fram Strait during February. The obtained emissivity data lend themselves for an assessment of sea-ice concentration and snow-depth algorithm accuracies.

Population dynamics of three species of dasyurid marsupials in arid central Australia: a 10-year study

2001 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R. Dickman ◽  
Adele S. Haythornthwaite ◽  
Gayle H. McNaught ◽  
Paul S. Mahon ◽  
Bobby Tamayo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Arid Zone ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Sand Ridge ◽  
Red Foxes ◽  
Central Australia ◽  
Simpson Desert

This study investigated the population dynamics of three species of dasyurid marsupials in sand ridge habitat of the Simpson Desert, western Queensland, over a 10-year period between March 1990 and December 1999. The lesser hairy-footed dunnart (Sminthopsis youngsoni), was captured most consistently over the period of study, followed by the wongai ningaui (Ningaui ridei), and the mulgara (Dasycercus cristicauda). Rates of recapture were low (4.5–22.2%), probably because individuals of each species are very mobile. All species bred in late winter or early spring when animals were aged at least 8–10 months, and independent juveniles first appeared usually in summer. S. youngsoni reared a second litter in late spring or early summer in 3 of the 10 years studied, when the availability of food was likely to have been high; neither N. ridei nor D. cristicauda were known to attempt a second litter within a season. To explore factors that might influence population dynamics, we compared capture rates of each species with measures of rainfall, temperature, vegetation cover, abundance of predators [feral cats (Felis catus), red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), and goannas (Varanus spp.)], dragons, other dasyurids and indices of food abundance. The abundance of S. youngsoni appeared to depend primarily on the cover of spinifex 7–9 months earlier, that of D. cristicauda was related most strongly to rainfall 7–9 months earlier, while that of N. ridei was related to minimum temperature lagged by 1–3 months. While the dynamics of other arid-zone mammals are driven demonstrably by interactions between rainfall, resource availability and predation, our findings suggest that dasyurids have limited flexibility in their life histories and are influenced more subtly and by factors such as facilitation that are just beginning to become apparent.

Ability to recover overrides the negative effects of flooding on growth of tropical grasses Chloris gayana and Panicum coloratum

2015 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 100 ◽  
Author(s):  
José A. Imaz ◽  
Daniel O. Giménez ◽  
Agustín A. Grimoldi ◽  
Gustavo G. Striker
Keyword(s):  
Recovery Period ◽  
Growth Period ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Tropical Grasses ◽  
Panicum Coloratum ◽  
Flooding Event ◽  
Chloris Gayana

This study assessed the flooding tolerance of the tropical grasses Chloris gayana Kunth and Panicum coloratum L. at different times of the year: (i) late winter flooding for 50 days (WF), (ii) early spring flooding (SF) for 20 days, and (iii) long-term flooding covering both periods (WF + SF, 70 days). A growth period under well-watered conditions was allowed after each flooding event to assess recovery of plant species. Plants were harvested after each flooding event and at the end of the recovery period. Panicum coloratum had higher tolerance to WF than C. gayana. Treatment WF did not affect biomass in P. coloratum, whereas it reduced biomass of flooded plants by 38% in C. gayana. Treatment SF did not differentiate the species for tolerance; both registered moderate reduction in their growth (20–30%). Under WF + SF, C. gayana showed additional reduction in its growth over that observed when subjected separately to either WF or SF, whereas P. coloratum did not. Both species displayed remarkably fast recovery from flooding when temperatures rose during early summer, attaining biomass equivalent to that of non-flooded plants 1 month after water subsided. Therefore, although P. coloratum appears slightly more tolerant during flooding than C. gayana, both species are promising for introduction in temperate lowland grasslands.

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