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Abstract:
The Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) is the main heat source for the Antarctic margins. Its onshore transport influences key processes that have a global impact, such as the melting of Antarctic ice shelves and the process of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) formation. The warming observed in some regions of the Antarctic margins has been directly linked to the inflow of the CDW onto the continental shelf, which has also shown a shoaling and warming trend. As a result, these regions are also those that experienced greatest ice-shelf volume loss. Ice shelf collapse threatens to reduce buttressing and accelerates glacial flow seaward. In addition to its contribution to sea level rise, the ice loss also increases the freshwater flux into the Antarctic coastal seas, modifying the properties of the Antarctic Shelf Bottom Water (ASBW) and, consequently, AABW formation. Despite its importance, the study of processes connected to Antarctic coastal dynamics has been challenging due to both coarse observational data products available and the numerical challenge of integrating processes that occur at different scales. However, the recent development of high-resolution oceanic products can significantly improve our understanding about this region and its response to climate changes. Here, we propose to investigate the variability of the CDW transport at the edge of the Weddell Sea ice shelves and assess potential impacts to coastal dynamics. To achieve our goal, we rely on high-resolution results from the Global Ocean Physics Reanalysis 1/12° (GLORYS12V1) product provided by the Copernicus Marine Environment Service (CMEMS).
