ODYSSEA

paleoclimatic reconstructions and Ocean DYnamics from the Sediment drifts of the ross SEA

Project 16_00205 funded by the Italian Antarctic Research Program. Principal Investigator: Michele Rebesco, OGS

Aims and significance

The general objective is to contribute to the understanding of past and present ocean dynamics, and the glacial history of the continental rise in the area of the Hillary Canyon (Eastern Ross Sea, Antarctica). In particular, to find evidence of past advances and retreats of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and their effects on deep water production and regimes.

The Hillary Canyon is one of the few places in Antarctica where the dense waters produced on the continental shelf descend along the continental slope and reach the ocean floor. But it is also an ascent path for relatively warm waters, which flow into the Along Slope Current (ASC). The rise of these waters produces the basal melting of the ice caps and triggers their instability, which represents one of the main uncertainties in future sea level projections.