The Marine System of the Western Antarctic Peninsula

Ducklow, Hugh W.; Clarke, Andrew; Dickhut, Rebecca; Doney, Scott C.; Geisz, Heidi; Huang, Kuan; Martinson, Douglas G.; Meredith, Michael P.; Moeller, Holly V.; Montes-Hugo, Martin; Schofield, Oscar; Stammerjohn, Sharon E.; Steinberg, Debbie; Fraser, William. 2012 The Marine System of the Western Antarctic Peninsula. In: Rogers, Alex D.; Johnston, Nadine M.; Murphy, Eugene J.; Clarke, Andrew, (eds.) Antarctic Ecosystems: An Extreme Environment in a Changing World. Blackwell Publishing, 121-159.

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Abstract/Summary

The marine ecosystem of the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) extends for 1500 km from the Bellingshausen Sea near 75  S, 80  W to the northern tip of the peninsula near 63  S, 60  W, and from the mostly glaciated coast in the east across the continental shelf to the shelf break in the west. The shelf is about 200 km wide and averages 430m in depth. The shelf break is defined by steep, rapidly deepening bathymetry between 750 and 3000m (Figure 5.1). The glaciallysculpted coastline along the peninsula is highly convoluted, with numerous islands, deeps, bays, fjords, often interconnected by channels, sometimes as deep as 900 m. The domain is divided into three sub-regions (continental slope, shelf and coastal regions of Figure 5.1B), defined by bathymetry, ocean dynamics, water mass and biological distributions.

Item Type:	Publication - Book Section
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1002/9781444347241.ch5
Programmes:	BAS Programmes > Polar Science for Planet Earth (2009 - ) > Ecosystems BAS Programmes > Polar Science for Planet Earth (2009 - ) > Polar Oceans
NORA Subject Terms:	Marine Sciences
Date made live:	06 Jun 2012 09:51
URI:	http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/18275

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