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Antarctic bottom water is formed in the Weddell and Ross Seas, off the Adélie Coast and by Cape Darnley from surface water cooling in polynyas and below the ice shelf. [7] An important factor enabling the formation of Antarctic bottom water is the cold surface wind blowing off the Antarctic continent. [8]
Some 98% of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, the world's largest ice sheet and also its largest reservoir of fresh water. Averaging at least 1.6 kilometres or 1 mile thick, the ice is so massive that it has depressed the continental bedrock in some areas more than 2.5 kilometres or 1.6 miles below sea level; subglacial lakes of ...
It was once believed that the lake had been sealed off for millions of years, but scientists now estimate its water is replaced by the slow melting and freezing of ice caps every 13,000 years. [17] During the summer, the ice at the edges of the lakes can melt, and liquid moats temporarily form. Antarctica has both saline and freshwater lakes. [16]
Overall, the scientists said that the melt of Antarctica added water equivalent to 13.2 millimeters (0.5 inch) of sea level rise over the past four decades. "As the Antarctic ice sheet continues ...
Antarctica’s vast expanse of sea ice regulates Earth’s temperature, as the white surface reflects the Sun’s heat back into the atmosphere. Record low sea-ice levels around Antarctica ...
Glaciers in East Antarctica will lose more ice in the future than previously thought, scientists reported Friday, in an alarming feedback loop where glacier meltwater is triggering even more ice ...
A schematic overview of the Southern Ocean overturning circulation. The arrows point in the direction of the water movement. The lower cell of the circulation is depicted by the upwelling arrows south of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and the formation of Antarctic Bottom Water beneath the sea ice of Antarctica due to buoyancy loss.
The current is circumpolar due to the lack of any landmass connecting with Antarctica and this keeps warm ocean waters away from Antarctica, enabling that continent to maintain its huge ice sheet. Associated with the Circumpolar Current is the Antarctic Convergence , where the cold Antarctic waters meet the warmer waters of the subantarctic ...