Oceanography
The Weddell Sea is one of the few areas where deep and bottom water masses are formed to contribute to the global thermohaline circulation.
This circulation has been proven difficult to quantify because the Geopotential surface heights above the 100dB level show only very weak surface currents. Assisted by the CTDs that can sample to depths in excess of 10,000 metres, our oceanographers hope to quantify the volume transported and determine the deep convective circulation in all areas of the Weddell Sea.
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Glaciology
View MoreThe ice shelves that fringe the Weddell Sea, which include the Larsen C and Flincher-Ronne ice shelves, are the floating portions of glaciers that transfer ice from large ice-sheet interior drainage basins to the marine environment.
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Geology & Geophysics
View MoreAn understanding of the stability or otherwise of the floating ice shelves surrounding the Weddell Sea over the last few thousand years is needed to place recently observed changes within a long-term context.
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Marine Biology
View MoreThe Weddell Sea extends over an area of approximately 2.8 million square kilometres and is one of the most pristine marine ecosystems in the world.
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Sea Ice Research
View MoreApproximately 25,000 years ago, during the coldest apart of the last glacial period, the ice in region of the Weddell Sea may have been up to 100m thicker and extended 400km North.
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Oceanography
View MoreThe Weddell Sea is one of the few areas where deep and bottom water masses are formed to contribute to the global thermohaline circulation.