01-05 December 2025
INCOIS, Hyderabad, India.
| Abstract Submission No. | ABS-04-0366 |
| Title of Abstract | Numerical Investigation of the Interaction between Coastal and Open Ocean Waters in the Prydz Bay Region of the Indian Sector of the Southern Ocean |
| Authors | Aswathi Das M. T.*, Michael S. Dinniman, Jenson V. George |
| Organisation | National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Goa 403804, India |
| Address | National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Headland Sada, Vasco-da-gama, Goa, India Vasco-da-Gama, Goa, India Pincode: 403804 E-mail: aswathidas@ncpor.res.in |
| Country | India |
| Presentation | Oral |
| Abstract | The Prydz Bay region of East Antarctica plays a critical role in the global ocean system. It holds the fourth largest source of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), significantly influencing the meridional overturning circulation and, in turn, the global climate. Prydz Bay also contains East Antarctica's largest ice shelf, the Amery Ice Shelf (AIS), along with the neighbouring West Ice Shelf (WIS). These ice shelves affect the stability and mass balance of a large part of the Antarctic ice sheet. Their melting has a profound impact on the thermohaline structure of the region. Additionally, the exchange of heat, mass, and momentum between the coastal and open ocean waters shapes water mass properties and coastal processes within Prydz Bay. In recent decades, sea ice variability and its decline are transitioning Antarctic coastal waters into an increasingly unpredictable regime. A realistic ocean-sea ice-ice shelf coupled numerical model, based on the Regional Ocean Modelling System (ROMS), is employed to investigate the coastal ocean processes in the Prydz Bay region of the Indian Sector of the Southern Ocean. The model configuration includes the major icebergs D-15A and D-15B to capture fine-scale features that shape the thermohaline structure of Prydz Bay. Following a 10-year model spin-up using 2019 forcing, a one-year simulation for 2019 successfully reproduced key oceanic and cryospheric features, including the Antarctic Slope Current, Prydz Bay gyre, sea ice production and variability, surface mixing, and basal melting of the ice shelf. These results offer valuable insights into the oceanic processes that regulate ice shelf vulnerability from the subshelf regime. |
| Are you part of IIOE-2 endorsed project | no |
| Keywords | Southern Ocean, Meridional Overturning Circulation, Regional Ocean Modelling System, Prydz Bay, Ice shelf, sea ice, Indian Sector of the Southern Ocean (ISSO) |
| For Awards | yes |
| Date Of Birth | 17-12-1991 |
| ECSN Registration Number | IIOE2-ECSN-0184 |