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Cold shelf waters flowing out of the Filchner Depression in the southern Weddell Sea make a significant contribution to the production of Weddell Sea Bottom Water (WSBW), a precursor to Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW). We use all available current meter records from the region to calculate the flux of cold water (<−1.9°C) over the sill at the northern end of the Filchner Depression (1.6 ± 0.5 Sv), and to determine its fate. The estimated fluxes and mixing rates imply a rate of WSBW formation (referenced to −0.8°C) of 4.3 ± 1.4 Sv. We identify three pathways for the cold shelf waters to enter the deep Weddell Sea circulation. One path involves flow constrained to follow the shelf break. The other two paths are down the continental slope, resulting from the cold dense water being steered northward by prominent ridges that cross the continental slope near 36°W and 37°W. Mooring data indicate that the deep plumes can retain their core characteristics to depths greater than 2000 m. Probably aided by thermobaricity, the plume water at this depth can flow at a speed approaching 1 m s−1, implying that the flow is occasionally supercritical. We postulate that such supercriticality acts to limit mixing between the plume and its environment. The transition from supercritical to slower, more uniform flow is associated with very efficient mixing, probably as a result of hydraulic jumps.

The Miami Isopycnic Coordinate Ocean Model (MICOM) is used to investigate the effect of diapycnal mixing on the oceanic uptake of CFC-11 and the ventilation of the surface waters in the Southern Ocean (south of 45°S). Three model experiments are performed: one with a diapycnal mixing coefficientKd (m2 s−1) of 2 × 10−7/N (Expt. 1), one withKd = 0 (Expt. 2), and one withKd = 5 × 10−8/N (Expt. 3),N (s−1) is the Brunt-Väisälä frequency. The model simulations indicate that the observed vertical distribution of CFC-11 along 88°W (prime meridian at 0°E) in the Southern Ocean is caused by local ventilation of the surface waters and westward-directed (eastward-directed) isopycnic transport and mixing from deeply ventilated waters in the Weddell Sea region. It is found that at the end of 1997, the simulated net ocean uptake of CFC-11 in Expt. 2 is 25% below that of Expt. 1. The decreased uptake of CFC-11 in the Southern Ocean accounts for 80% of this difference. Furthermore, Expts. 2 and 3 yield far more realistic vertical distributions of the ventilated CFC-waters than Expt. 1. The experiments clearly highlight the sensitivity of the Southern Ocean surface water ventilation to the distribution and thickness of the simulated mixed layer. It is argued that inclusion of CFCs in coupled climate models could be used as a test-bed for evaluating the decadal-scale ocean uptake of heat and CO2.

Two strains of psychrotolerant Antarctic marine bacteria were isolated and characterized using biochemical and molecular techniques. Sequencing of 16S rRNA gene showed that UVvi strain belongs to the genus Arthrobacter whereas UVps strain is related to the Flexibacter-Cytophaga-Bacteroides (FCB) group. Response of the strains to solar radiation was studied during the summer of 1999 in Potter Cove, near Jubany station (South Shetland Island, Antarctica). The effect of photosynthetically available radiation (PAR, 400-700 nm), ultraviolet-A (UV-A, 320-400 nm) and ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B, 280-320 nm) on cell viability was studied using mixed cultures in quartz bottles covered with interferential filters and exposed to solar radiation. In all experiments, four treatments were used: dark (with light screened out), PAR (with UV radiation screened out), PAR+UV-A (UV-B screened out) and PAR+UV-A+UV-B. Under the assayed conditions, PAR+UV-A and PAR+UV-A+UV-B radiation showed similar negative effects on the viability of the studied strains. However, at the end of the exposure time, mortality values in PAR+UV-A+UV-B treatments were higher than those observed under PAR+UV-A treatments. In both PAR+UV-A and PAR+UV-A+UV-B treatments we observed high levels of hydrogen peroxide compared with the dark control. The Arthrobacter UVvi strain showed significant recovery in dark conditions after exposure to the PAR+UV-A but not after the PAR+UV-A+UV-B treatment. This strain proved to be more resistant to UV radiation than the FCB group-related UVps strain. The results showed that UV radiation has a deleterious effect on these Antarctic marine bacteria and also revealed that the analysed components of the Antarctic bacterioplankton may have different responses when they are exposed to the same irradiance conditions.

Multichannel seismic reflection data from the Cosmonaut Sea margin of East Antarctica have been interpreted in terms of depositional processes in the continental slope and rise area. A major sediment lens is present below the upper continental rise along the entire Cosmonaut Sea margin. The lens probably consists of sediments supplied from the shelf and slope, being constantly reworked by westward flowing bottom currents, which redeposited the sediments into a large scale drift deposit prior to the main glaciogenic input along the margin. High-relief semicircular or elongated depositional structures are also found on the upper continental rise stratigraphically above the regional sediment lens, and were deposited by the combined influence of downslope and alongslope sediment transport. On the lower continental rise, large-scale sediment bodies extend perpendicular to the continental margin and were deposited as a result of downslope turbidity transport and westward flowing bottom currents after initiation of glacigenic input to the slope and rise. We compare the seismostratigraphic signatures along the continental margin segments of the adjacent Riiser Larsen Sea, the Weddell Sea and the Prydz Bay/Cooperation Sea, focussing on indications that may be interpreted as a preglacial-glaciomarine transition in the depositional environment. We suggest that earliest glaciogenic input to the continental slope and rise occurred in the Prydz Bay and possibly in the Weddell Sea. At a later stage, an intensification of the oceanic circulation pattern occurred, resulting in the deposition of the regional plastered drift deposit along the Cosmonaut Sea margin, as well as the initiation of large drift deposits in the Cooperation Sea. At an even later stage, possibly in the middle Miocene, glacial advances across the continental shelf were initiated along the Cosmonaut Sea and the Riiser Larsen Sea continental margins.

By studying multichannel seismic data across the continental slope and rise of the eastern Riiser Larsen Sea and through a comparison with other East Antarctic continental margins, the base of the glaciomarine deposits has been traced in this area. The seismic data reveal the presence of large channel-levee complexes as well as multiple types of contourite accumulations. Downslope and alonglope processes thus interacted in forming the glaciomarine deposits. The deposits are attributed to the advances of ice sheet, delivering huge amounts of sediment to the shelf edge and upper slope during glacial maxima. Oversteepening and instability generated down-slope turbidity currents forming channel–levee complexes whereas the contourite accumulations were probably mostly formed during interglacials. The spatial distribution of the current controlled deposits indicates that bottom currents flow along the western slope of the Gunnerus Ridge.

The Holocene climate of the Southern Ocean is not well understood, mainly because of the lack of high-resolution reconstructions of ocean surface properties. Here we present a 12,500-yr-long, decadal-scale record of Holocene sea-surface temperatures and sea- ice presence from the Polar Front of the East Atlantic Southern Ocean. The record shows gradual climate change, with no abrupt Neoglacial cooling, and an unprecedented late Holocene warming. The dominant forcing factor appears to be precessional insolation; Northern Hemisphere summer insolation correlates to at least the early to middle Holocene climate trend. Spectral analysis reveals centennial-scale cyclic climate changes with periods of 1220, 1070, 400, and 150 yr. The record shows good correlation to East Antarctic ice cores and to climate records from South Georgia and Bunger Oasis. However, the record shows out-of-phase behavior with regard to climate records from the western Antarctic Peninsula and the Peru-Chile Current; such behavior hints at a climatic divide through Patagonia, the Drake Passage, and between West and East Antarctica.

This paper presents results from seismic measurements of the ice and water column thickness of the Fimbul Ice Shelf in the northeastern Weddell Sea. Seismic reflection measurements were conducted at 183 stations covering most of the ice shelf. Seismic velocities in the ice were derived from refraction measurements at 12 stations, distributed evenly across the area, as well as from temperature and density data from the Fimbul Ice Shelf. Velocities in the water were derived from temperature and salinity data from beneath the Fimbul Ice Shelf. Ice thicknesses were found to vary between 160 m and 550 m with uncertainties up to ±10 m. Water column thicknesses up to 900 m were found within the central ice shelf cavity, and values exceed 2000 m where the ice shelf overhangs the continental slope. Uncertainties in water column thickness are estimated to be ±60 m, and are dominated by the uncertainties in the shape of the seabed. Ice draft and seabed elevation was derived from ice and water column thickness assuming hydrostatic pressure. The resulting map of seabed elevation and water column thickness suggests that the strong westward flowing coastal current will be steered under the ice shelf and thus drive a sub-ice-shelf flow. Warm Deep Water does not have direct access to the ice shelf cavity, while relatively cold coastal waters shallower than 500 m will interact closely with the Fimbul Ice Shelf.

Iron(III) photoreduction and the responses of phytoplankton under ultraviolet (UV) and photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) were investigated with the presence of hydroxycarboxylic acid (glucaric acid (GA), a model compound for organic acids excreted by phytoplankton). The incubation experiments were carried out on board using seawater samples collected in the location of the winter ice edge (WIE) and the spring ice edge (SIE) of the Southern Ocean. In this paper, we focus on the results of experiment in WIE. Throughout the experiments, dissolved Fe(II), major nutrients and in vivo fluorescence were monitored regularly. In addition, Chl-a, POC/PON, cell densities of phytoplankton and bacteria, bacterial production, organic peroxide, hydrogen peroxide and total CO2 were measured. The results from the WIE show that iron enrichment had a substantial effect on phytoplankton growth rate. Fe(III) addition in the presence of GA (FeGA) gave higher Fe(II) concentration and higher growth rate of phytoplankton than those in controls. Our results suggest that hydroxycarboxylic acid had a significant chemical and biological impact. The presence of GA influenced iron photochemistry and iron availability to phytoplankton. Phytoplankton growth responses to iron enrichments in incubations under UV and PAR were completely dissimilar. It seems that FeGA addition prominently changes the harmful effect of UV on the phytoplankton population. This study provides preliminary information on how the photoreduction of iron(III) and the phytoplankton growth are affected by iron enrichment in the presence of hydroxycarboxylic acid.

The importance of the diatom Fragilariopsis cylindrus (Grunow) Krieger in Helmcke & Krieger in the Arctic and Antarctic is well known. It is used as an indicator of sea ice when the paleoenvironment is being described. It is often among the dominant taxa in different sea ice communities, sometimes making an important contribution to a subsequent phytoplankton growth when released by ice melt. However, it may also dominate phytoplankton blooms in areas never experiencing sea ice. The use of F. cylindrus as an indicator for reconstruction of palaeoceanographic conditions is assessed from literature records. Its potential as an indicator species for sea ice appears to vary from region to region, but it is a good indicator of cold water.

The role of iron and light in controlling photosynthate production and allocation in phytoplankton populations of the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean was investigated in April–May 1999. The 14C incorporation into five biochemical pools (glucan, amino acids, proteins, lipids and polysaccharides) was measured during iron/light perturbation experiments. The diurnal Chl a-specific rates of carbon incorporation into these pools did not change in response to iron addition, yet were decreased at 20 μmol photons m−2 s−1, an irradiance comparable with the one at 20–45 m in situ depth. This suggests that the low phytoplankton biomass encountered (0.1–0.6 μg Chl a L−1) was mainly caused by light limitation in the deep wind mixed layer (&gt;40 m). Regional differences in Chl a-specific carbon incorporation rates were not found in spite of differences in phytoplankton species composition: at the Antarctic Polar Front, biomass was dominated by a diatom population of Fragilariopsis kerguelensis, whereas smaller cells, including chrysophytes, were relatively more abundant in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current beyond the influence of frontal systems. Because mixing was often in excess of 100 m in the latter region, diatom cells may have been unable to fulfil their characteristically high Fe demand at low average light conditions, and thus became co-limited by both resources. Using a model that describes the 14C incorporation, the consistency was shown between the dynamics in the glucan pool in the field experiments and in laboratory experiments with an Antarctic diatom, Chaetoceros brevis. The glucan respiration rate was almost twice as high during the dark phase as during the light phase, which is consistent with the role of glucan as a reserve supplying energy and carbon skeletons for continued protein synthesis during the night.

The climatic features of Antarctic waters are more extreme and constant than in the Arctic. The Antarctic has been isolated and cold longer than the Arctic. The polar ichthyofaunas differ in age, endemism, taxonomy, zoogeographic distinctiveness and physiological tolerance to environmental parameters. The Arctic is the connection between the Antarctic and the temperate-tropical systems. Paradigmatic comparisons of the pathways of adaptive evolution of fish from both poles address the oxygen-transport system and the antifreezes of northern and southern species, (i) Haemoglobin evolution has included adaptations at the biochemical, physiological and molecular levels. Within the study of the molecular bases offish cold adaptation, and taking advantage of the information on haemoglobin amino acid sequence, we analysed the evolutionary history of the ? and ? globins of Antarctic, Arctic and temperate haemoglobins as a basis for reconstructing phylogenetic relationships. In the trees, the constant physico-chemical conditions of the Antarctic waters are matched by clear grouping of globin sequences, whereas the variability typical of the Arctic ecosystem corresponds to high sequence variation, reflected by scattered intermediate positions between the Antarctic and non-Antarctic clades. (ii) Antifreeze (glyco)proteins and peptides allow polar fish to survive at sub-zero temperatures. In Antarctic Notothenioidei the antifreeze gene evolved from a trypsinogen-like serine protease gene. In the Arctic polar cod the genome contains genes which encode nearly identical proteins, but have evolved from a different genomic locus–a case of convergent evolution.

Ocean Drilling Program Site 1165 penetrated drift sediments on the East Antarctic continental rise and recovered sediments from a low-energy depositional environment. The sediments are characterized by prominent alternations between a green to greenish-gray diatom-bearing hemipelagic facies and gray to dark gray hemiturbiditic facies. Our investigation of an upper Miocene section, using high-resolution color spectra, multisensor core logs, and X-ray fluorescence scans, reveals that sedimentation changes occur at Milankovitch orbital frequencies of obliquity and precession. We use this finding to derive an astronomical calibrated time scale and to calculate iron mass-accumulation rates, as a proxy for sediment-accumulation rates. Terrigenous iron fluxes change by as much as 100% during each obliquity cycle. This change and an episodic pattern of enhanced ice-rafted debris deposition during times of deglaciation provide evidence for a dynamic and likely wet-based late Miocene East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) that underwent large size variations at orbital time scales. The dynamic behavior of the EAIS implies that a significant proportion of the variability seen in oxygen isotope records of the late Miocene reflects Antarctic ice-volume changes.

In previous work, whaling catch positions were used as a proxy record for the position of the Antarctic sea ice edge and mean sea ice extent greater than the present one spanning 2.8° latitude was postulated to have occurred in the pre-1950s period, compared to extents observed since 1973 from microwave satellite imagery. The previous conclusion of an extended northern latitude for ice extent in the earlier epoch applied only to the January (mid-summer) period. For this summer period, however, there are also possible differences between ship and satellite-derived measurements. Our work showed a consistent summer offset (November– December), with the ship-observed ice edge 1 - 1.5° north of the satellitederived ice edge. We further reexamine the use of whale catch as an ice edge proxy where agreement was claimed between the satellite ice edge (1973–1987) and the ship whale catch positions. This examination shows that, while there may be a linear correlation between ice edge position and whale catch data, the slope of the line deviates from unity and the ice edge is also further north in the whale catch data than in the satellite data for most latitudes. We compare the historical (direct) record and modern satellite maps of ice edge position accounting for these differences in ship and satellite observations. This comparison shows that only regional perturbations took place earlier, without significant deviations in the mean ice extents, from the pre-1950s to the post-1970s. This conclusion contradicts that previously stated from the analysis of whale catch data that indicated Antarctic sea ice extent changes were circumpolar rather than regional in nature between the two periods.

A new stegocephalid (Amphipoda) species, Metandania tordi n.sp, is described, belonging to the subfamily Andaniexinae Berge & Vader 2001. The new species is the first record of the genus in the southern hemisphere. In addition, a morphological trait, previously not figured nor described within this family, is presented: a process proximally on the inner anterior surface of the fourth coxa. This locking-process is interpreted, and named accordingly, to enhance a relative stabilization of the third and fourth coxae. A brief comparison of the morphology of the fourth coxa between all five stegocephalid subfamilies is presented.

Sea ice is a remarkable component of the global climate system. It can form over up to about 10 % of the global ocean area, and creates an insulating barrier between the relatively warm seawater and the cold atmosphere, allowing a temperature difference that may be tens of degrees over only a couple of meters. It reduces evaporation from the ocean, leading to a drier atmosphere than would otherwise exist. Sea ice modifies the radiation balance at the Earth’s surface because it supports snow (the most reflective of the Earth’s natural surfaces, with an albedo of up to approximately 0.8), where otherwise there would be seawater (the least reflective, with an albedo of about 0.07). As sea ice forms it excludes brine, deepening the ocean surface mixed layer and influencing the formation of deep and bottom water. As it melts, it releases relatively fresh water, stratifying the upper layers of the ocean. Through these processes sea ice exerts an enormous influence on the atmospheric and oceanic circulation in cold regions and indeed the climate of the rest of the globe.

A hindcast simulation of the Arctic and Antarctic sea ice variability during 1955–2001 has been performed with a global, coarse resolution ice–ocean model driven by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction / National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis daily surface air temperatures and winds. Both the mean state and variability of the ice packs over the satellite observing period are reasonably well reproduced by the model. Over the 47-year period, the simulated ice area (defined as the total ice-covered oceanic area) in each hemisphere experiences large decadal variability together with a decreasing trend of ~1 % per decade. In the Southern Hemisphere, this trend is mostly caused by an abrupt retreat of the ice cover during the second half of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s. The modelled ice volume also exhibits pronounced decadal variability, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. Besides these fluctuations, we detected a downward trend in Arctic ice volume of 1.8 % per decade and an upward trend in Antarctic ice volume of 1.5 % per decade. However, caution must be exercised when interpreting these trends because of the shortness of the simulation and the strong decadal variations. Furthermore, sensitivity experiments have revealed that the trend in Antarctic ice volume is model-dependent.

A new coupled atmosphere–ocean–sea ice model has been developed, named the Bergen Climate Model (BCM). It consists of the atmospheric model ARPEGE/IFS, together with a global version of the ocean model MICOM including a dynamic–thermodynamic sea ice model. The coupling between the two models uses the OASIS software package. The new model concept is described, and results from a 300-year control integration is evaluated against observational data. In BCM, both the atmosphere and the ocean components use grids which can be irregular and have non-matching coastlines. Much effort has been put into the development of optimal interpolation schemes between the models, in particular the non-trivial problem of flux conservation in the coastal areas. A flux adjustment technique has been applied to the heat and fresh-water fluxes. There is, however, a weak drift in global mean sea-surface temperature (SST) and sea-surface salinity (SSS) of respectively 0.1 °C and 0.02 psu per century. The model gives a realistic simulation of the radiation balance at the top-of-the-atmosphere, and the net surface fluxes of longwave, shortwave, and turbulent heat fluxes are within observed values. Both global and total zonal means of cloud cover and precipitation are fairly close to observations, and errors are mainly related to the strength and positioning of the Hadley cell. The mean sea-level pressure (SLP) is well simulated, and both the mean state and the interannual standard deviation show realistic features. The SST field is several degrees too cold in the equatorial upwelling area in the Pacific, and about 1 °C too warm along the eastern margins of the oceans, and in the polar regions. The deviation from Levitus salinity is typically 0.1 psu – 0.4 psu, with a tendency for positive anomalies in the Northern Hemisphere, and negative in the Southern Hemisphere. The sea-ice distribution is realistic, but with too thin ice in the Arctic Ocean and too small ice coverage in the Southern Ocean. These model deficiencies have a strong influence on the surface air temperatures in these regions. Horizontal oceanic mass transports are in the lower range of those observed. The strength of the meridional overturning in the Atlantic is 18 Sv. An analysis of the large-scale variability in the model climate reveals realistic El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and North Atlantic–Arctic Oscillation (NAO/AO) characteristics in the SLP and surface temperatures, including spatial patterns, frequencies, and strength. While the NAO/AO spectrum is white in SLP and red in temperature, the ENSO spectrum shows an energy maximum near 3 years.