The Weddell Polynya
source NASA
A recent major climatic
event was the occurrence of a very large region, 350,000 km2,
of open water or polynya
within the ice-covered Weddell
Sea during the austral winters of 1974-76. There was vigourous
air-sea interaction
within the polynya that
resulted in the convective overturning of the water column and
the formation of vast amounts
of cold and very dense Antarctic
Bottom Water that has since flowed equatorward cooling the abyssal
waters of
the South Atlantic Ocean.
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