Southern Weddell sea

Salinity of the water column; Temperature of the water column

CTD

This dataset is comprised of CTD temperature, salinity and potential temperature collected using seal tags. Data were collected as part of the NERC-funded project 'Ocean processes over the southern Weddell Sea shelf using seal tags'. Data were not collected as part of a cruise as seals were used as data activity platforms. 20 Weddell seals were tagged at the eastern end of the shelf-break north of the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf between 11 February 2011 and 03 May 2011. The aims of the project were: 1. The resulting data from the seals' dives will provide the most comprehensive picture to date of the ocean conditions over the southern Weddell Sea continental shelf. 2. By mapping the temperature of the water near the sea floor it will be possible to determine the locations where dense waters leave the shelf, and the processes involved: either a direct flow down the slope under gravity, or initially mixing at the shelf edge with waters from off the shelf before descending down the slope. 3. To determine where the source waters come onto the shelf. 4. Though the research was primarily oceanographic, the movements and diving behaviour provide insight to seal biologists studying the animals' behaviour. Data were collected as part of NERC standard grants NE/G014086/1 and NE/G014833/1. NE/G014086/1 was the lead grant and was led by Dr Keith William Nicholls of NERC British Antarctic Survey, Science Programmes and ran from 01 April 2010 to 31 December 2018. The secondary grant, NE/G014833/1, was led by Professor Michael Fedak of University of St Andrews, Sea Mammal Research Unit and ran from 01 October 2010 to 28 February 2014. The seal tag CTD data have been received by BODC and are currently available in original format upon request.

Lars Boehme (2016) Bimodal Winter Haul-Out Patterns of Adult Weddell Seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in the Southern Weddell Sea, ; E. Darelius (2016) Observed vulnerability of Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf to wind-driven inflow of warm deep water, ; E.Darelius (2014) Hydrography and circulation in the Filchner Depression, Weddell Sea, Antarctica, ; Marius Arthun (2013) Wintertime Water Mass Modification near an Antarctic Ice Front, ; Marius Arthun (2013) Seasonal inflow of warm water onto the southern Weddell Sea continental shelf, Antarctica, ; L. Biermann (2015) An alternative method for correcting fluorescence quenching, ; M.A.Fedak (2013) The impact of animal platforms on polar ocean observation, ; Theoni Photopoulou (2015) Efficient abstracting of dive profiles using a broken-stick model, ; Theoni Photopoulou (2015) The generalized data management and collection protocol for Conductivity-Temperature-Depth Satellite Relay Data Loggers, ; Fabien Roquet (2013) Estimates of the Southern Ocean general circulation improved by animal-borne instruments, ; Fabien Roquet (2014) A Southern Indian Ocean database of hydrographic profiles obtained with instrumented elephant seals,

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