Orkney Passage moorings 2018/19

Weddell Sea Deep Water is a major component of Antarctic Bottom Water, the densest water mass in the global overturning circulation, and one that permeates much of the abyssal ocean. Weddell Sea Deep Water circulates clockwise around the Weddell Gyre, along the northern flank of the Weddell Sea, and overflows to the north through gaps in the South Scotia Ridge. Orkney Passage, east of the South Orkney Islands, is an ideal place to monitor the rate of export and properties of this key water mass. British Antarctic Survey has been monitoring this outflow using moored current meters and temperature/conductivity loggers since 2007, in collaboration with Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, who have been monitoring this region since 2004. In addition, LDEO has deployed two moorings in the northwestern Weddell Sea since 1999. The BAS component forms part of the NERC-funded ORCHESTRA (Ocean Regulation of Climate by Heat and Carbon Sequestration and Transports) project. LDEO's funding comes from the Climate Observation Division, Climate Program Office, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It is likely that this cruise will be combined with the A23 hydrography section in 2019.

https://www.bas.ac.uk/project/orchestra/ http://ocp.ldeo.columbia.edu/res/div/ocp/noaa_cod/