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Generation of a Buoyancy-Driven Coastal Current by an Antarctic Polynya (2008)
BibTeX
@MISC{Wilchinsky08generationof,
author = {Alexander V. Wilchinsky and Daniel L. Feltham},
title = { Generation of a Buoyancy-Driven Coastal Current by an Antarctic Polynya},
year = {2008}
}
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Abstract
Descent and spreading of high salinity water generated by salt rejection during sea ice formation in an Antarctic coastal polynya is studied using a hydrostatic, primitive equation three-dimensional ocean model called the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory Coastal Ocean Modeling System (POLCOMS). The shape of the polynya is assumed to be a rectangle 100 km long and 30 km wide, and the salinity flux into the polynya at its surface is constant. The model has been run at high horizontal spatial resolution (500 m), and numerical simulations reveal a buoyancy-driven coastal current. The coastal current is a robust feature and appears in a range of simulations designed to investigate the influence of a sloping bottom, variable bottom drag, variable vertical turbulent diffusivities, higher salinity flux, and an offshore position of the polynya. It is shown that bottom drag is the main factor determining the current width. This coastal current has not
Keyphrases
buoyancy-driven coastal current antarctic polynya salinity flux sloping bottom numerical simulation high salinity water current width primitive equation three-dimensional ocean model salt rejection variable vertical turbulent diffusivities main factor sea ice formation bottom drag robust feature high horizontal spatial resolution variable bottom drag offshore position antarctic coastal polynya
