TITLE:     Palmer LTER: Distribution of Circumpolar Deep Water West of the Antarctic Peninsula
AUTHOR:    DA Smith, EE Hofmann, JM Klinck, CM Lascara and RC Smith
DATE:      12-16 Feb 1996
PLACE:     1996 Ocean Sciences Meeting, San Diego, California
 Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, Vol. 76, No.3, January 16, 1996
 ASLO Feb 96


ABSTRACT:  
  Between November 1991 to September 1993, four multidisciplinary
cruises to the region west of the Antarctic Peninsula were
conducted as part of the Palmer Long-Term Ecological Research
Program (Palmer LTER).  Data combined from these cruises provide an extensive 
hydrographic survey for the region and spans all four seasons.
An analysis of the hydrographic data indicates that the shelf west 
of the Antarctic Peninsula is flooded with warm (T > 1.0 deg C),
salty (S > 34.7 psu) water of Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) origin and
that the shelf retains these hydrographic characteristics over seasonal 
scales.  Core CDW (T > 1.8 deg C and S > 34.7 psu) is 
primarily located to the oceanic side of the 1000 m isobath while a cooler 
version of CDW (1.0 > T > 1.3 deg C) occupies the majority of the shelf.  
No accompanying division in salinity is observed giving rise to little 
variation in the across-shelf density field.  Isopycnal intrusions of 
oceanic CDW onto the shelf are believed to mix vertically with colder 
Antarctic Surface Water (AASW) (T < 0 deg C) resulting in the cooler 
shelf version of CDW.  These intrusions of CDW tend to be isolated 
at the shelf break (1000 m isobath) with the exception of the shelf west 
of Adelaide Island and north of Anvers Island where they occur further inshore.
The oceanic character of the shelf waters  west of the Antarctic
Peninsula differ from other Antarctic shelf systems (e.g. Weddell and Ross 
Seas) which are recognized as areas of cold, dense shelf water formation.  
An analysis of a historical data set for the region verifies many of these 
results and indicates that they are consistent over long periods of time.