Publication: Advances in Polar Science (APS). Vol. 33, No. 1, 110~118, March 2022
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Author: YANG Shun, SONG Haibin and ZHANG Kun
DOI: 10.13679/j.advps.2021.0004
CNARC member: Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC)
Abstract: The submesoscale processes, including submesoscale eddies and fronts, have a strong vertical velocity, can thus make important supplements to the nutrients in the upper ocean. Using legacy multichannel seismic data AP25 of cruise EW9101 acquired northeast of the South Shetland Islands (Antarctic Peninsula) in February 1991, we identified an oceanic submesoscale eddy with the horizontal scale of ~4 km and a steep shelf break front that has variable dip angles from 5o to 10o. The submesoscale eddy is an anticyclonic eddy, which carries warm core water, can accelerate ice shelves melting. The upwelling induced by shelf break front may play an important role in transporting nutrients to the sea surface. The seismic images with very high lateral resolution may provide a new insight to understand the submesoscale and even small-scale oceanic phenomena in the interior.
Key words: submesoscale eddy, shelf break front, seismic oceanography, South Shetland Islands
