Abstract—The article studies the abiotic characteristics in waters of the Bransfield Strait in January 2022. The cross-section of January 2020 was repeated from the Antarctic Peninsula to the Southern Shetland Islands; new data were also obtained: two cross-sections in the eastern and western parts of the strait. The scheme of currents in the Strait reflects modern knowledge; absolute values have been measured up to 50 cm/s in the northeast direction and up to 35 cm/s in the southwest. In the studied area, modified waters of the Bellingshausen Sea are clearly distinguished (warm and least saline, with reduced values of total alkalinity and all nutrients); modified Weddell Sea water (colder and more saline, with reduced values of silicates and nitrates), as well as Circumpolar Deep Water in the 200–450 m layer (warm and salty, with low values of dissolved oxygen and pH and increased content of phosphates, silicates. and nitrates). In bottom waters of the strait, there were no serious changes in structure. The amplitude of the interannual variability of the abiotic characteristics of Bransfield Strait waters is poorly expressed, nevertheless it can serve as a climate change marker in the Southern Ocean.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
N. V. Arzhanova and K. V. Artamonova, “Hydrochemical structure of waters in the Antarctic krill fishing areas Euphausia superba Dana,” Tr. VNIRO 152, 118–132 (2014).
S. V. Kashin, N. N. Antipov, I. A. Chistyakov, et al., “Interannual variability of the structure and characteristics of the waters of the Bransfield Strait according to AARI observations,” Comprehensive Studies of the World Ocean. Materials of the VI All-Russian Scientific Conference of Young Scientists, Moscow, April 18–24, 2021 (Inst. Okeanol. im. P.P. Shirshova, Moscow, 2021), pp. 81–82. https://doi.org/10.29006/978-5-6045110-3-9
E. G. Morozov, “Currents in the Bransfield Strait,” Dokl. Akad. Nauk. 415 (6), 823–825 (2007).
E. G. Morozov, M. V. Flint, V. A. Spiridonov, et al., “Multidisciplinary program of field studies of the ecosystem in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean (December 2019–March 2020),” Oceanology 59 (6), 989–991 (2019).
E. G. Morozov, V. A. Spiridonov, T. N. Molodtsova, et al., “Investigations of the ecosystem in the Atlantic sector of Antarctica (cruise 79 of the R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh),” Oceanology 60 (5), 721–723 (2020).
E. G. Morozov, M. V. Flint, A. M. Orlov, et al., “Oceanographic and ecosystem studies in the Atlantic sector of Antarctica (cruise 87 of the research vessel Akade-mik Mstislav Keldysh),” Oceanology 62 (5), 721–723 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001437022050150
A. Polukhin, E. Morozov, P. Tishchenko, et al., “Water structure in the Bransfield Strait (Antarctica) in January 2020: Hydrophysical, optical and hydrochemical features,” Oceanology 61 (5), 632–644 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001437021050106
Modern Methods of Hydrochemical Studies of the Ocean, Ed. by O.K. Bordovskii (Inst. Okeanol. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Moscow, 1992) [in Russian].
V. N. Stepanov, World Ocean: Dynamics and Properties of Waters (Znanie, Moscow, 1974) [in Russian].
R. Yu. Tarakanov and A. M. Gritsenko, “Jets of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current in the Drake Passage based on hydrographic section data,” Oceanology 58 (4), 541–555 (2018).
J. E. Capella, L. B. Quetin, E. E. Hofmann, et al., “Models of the early life history of Euphausia superba—Part II. Lagrangian calculations,” Deep-Sea Res. 39, 1201–1220 (1992).
G. D. Egbert and S. Y. Erofeeva, “Efficient inverse modeling of barotropic ocean tides,” J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol. 19 (2), 183–204 (2002).
B. Yu. Damini, R. Kerr, T. S. Dotto, et al., “Long-term changes on the Bransfield Strait deep water masses: Variability, drivers and connections with the northwestern Weddell Sea,” Deep-Sea Res. I 179, 103667 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2021.103667
B. Dorschel, J. Gutt, O. Huhn, et al., “Environmental information for a marine ecosystem research approach for the northern Antarctic Peninsula (RV Polarstern Expedition PS81, ANT-XXIX/3),” Polar Biol. 39 (5), 765–787 (2016).
D. I. Frey, V. A. Krechik, E. G. Morozov, et al., “Water exchange between deep basins of the Bransfield Strait,” Water 14 (20), 3193 (2022).
M. García, C. Castro, and A. Ríos, et al., “Water masses and distribution of physico-chemical properties in the western Bransfield Strait and Gerlache Strait during austral summer 1995/96,” Deep-Sea Res. II 49 (4–5), 585–602 (2002).
M. García, O. López, J. Sospedra, et al., “Mesoscale Variability in the Bransfield Strait region (Antarctica) during austral summer,” Ann. Geophys. 12 (9), 856–867 (1994).
A. Gordon, M. Mensch, Z. Dong, et al., “Deep and bottom water of the Bransfield Strait eastern and central basins,” J. Geophys. Res. Oceans 105 (C5), 11337–11346 (2000).
A. L. Gordon and W. D. Nowlin, “The basin waters of the Bransfield Strait,” J. Phys. Oceanogr. 8 (2), 258–264 (1978).
E. E. Hofmann, J. M. Klinck, C. M. Lascara, et al., “Water mass distribution and circulation west of the Antarctic Peninsula and including Bransfield Strait,” Foundations for Ecological Research West of the Antarctic Peninsula. Antarct. Res. Ser. 70, 61–80 (1996).
W. G. Huneke, O. Huhn, and M. Schroeder, “Water masses in the Bransfield Strait and adjacent seas, austral summer 2013,” Polar Biol. 39 (5), 789–798 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-016-1936-8
V. V. Kasyan, D. G. Bitiutskii, A. V. Mishin, et al., “Composition and distribution of plankton communities in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean,” Diversity 14, 923 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3390/d14110923
V. A. Krechik, D. I. Frey, and E. G. Morozov, “Peculiarities of water circulation in the central part of the Bransfield Strait in January 2020,” Dokl. Earth Sci. 496 (1), 92–95 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1028334X21010116
E. R. Lewis and D. W. R. Wallace, Program developed for CO2 system calculations. Environmental System Science Data Infrastructure for a Virtual Ecosystem (ESS-DIVE) (United States, 1998), CDIAC-105.
V. L. Peck, C. S. Allen, S. Kender, et al., “Oceanographic variability on the West Antarctic Peninsula During the Holocene and the influence of upper circumpolar deep water,” Quat. Sci. Rev. 119, 54–65 (2015).
S. I. Rubin, “Carbon and nutrient cycling in the upper water column across the Polar Frontal Zone and Antarctic Circumpolar Current along 170 W,” Global Biogeochemical Cycles 17 (3) (2003).
C. D. Rye, J. Marshall, M. Kelley, et al., “Antarctic glacial melt as a driver of recent Southern Ocean climate trends,” Geophys. Res. Lett. 47, e2019GL086892 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL086892
P. Sangra, C. Gordo, M. Hernandez-Arencibia, et al., “The Bransfield current system,” Deep-Sea Res. Part I 58 (4), 390–402 (2011).
V. Siegel and J. L. Watkins, “Distribution, biomass and demography of Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba,” in Biology and Ecology of Antarctic Krill. Advances in Polar Ecology, Ed. by V. Siegel (Springer, Cham, 2016), pp. 21–100.
V. A. Spiridonov, “Scenario of the Late-Pleistocene-Holocene changes in the distributional range of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba),” Mar. Ecol. 17 (1–3), 519–541 (1996).
P. St-Laurent, J. M. Klinck, and M. S. Dinniman, “On the role of coastal troughs in the circulation of warm Circumpolar Deep Water on Antarctic shelves,” J. Phys. Oceanogr. 43 (1), 51–64 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-11-0237.1
R. Tokarczyk, “Classification of water masses in the Bransfield Strait and southern part of the Drake Passage using a method of statistical multidimensional analysis,” Pol. Polar Res. 333–366 (1987).
D. Vaughan, G. Marshall, W. Connolley, et al., “Recent rapid regional climate warming on the Antarctic Peninsula,” Climatic Change 60 (3), 243–274 (2003).
M. Visbeck, “Deep velocity profiling using Lowered Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler: Bottom track and inverse solution,” J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol. 19 (5), 794–807 (2002).
R. F. Weiss, “The solubility of nitrogen, oxygen and argon in water and seawater,” Deep-Sea Res. 17, 721–735 (1970).
Funding
The study was carried out within the state task of IO RAS, FMWE-2021-0016, with the support of the Russian Science Foundation, grant no 21-77-20004 (analysis of shipboard measurements).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Seliverstova, A.M., Zuev, O.A., Polukhin, A.A. et al. Hydrological and Hydrochemical Structure of the Waters of the Bransfield Strait in January 2022. Oceanology 63, 510–522 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001437023040161
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001437023040161