The Cryosphere
The Cryosphere
TC
Articles | Volume 16, issue 7
Articles | Volume 16, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3005-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3005-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 16, issue 7
Research article
 | 
28 Jul 2022
Research article |  | 28 Jul 2022

Reversal of ocean gyres near ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea caused by the interaction of sea ice and wind

Yixi Zheng, David P. Stevens, Karen J. Heywood, Benjamin G. M. Webber, and Bastien Y. Queste

Data sets

An Idealised Barotropic Ocean Gyre Model Code, Based on MITgcm Yixi Zheng, David P. Stevens, Karen J. Heywood, Benjamin G. M. Webber, and Bastien Y. Queste. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6757626

Shipborne ADCP data in the Thwaites Gyre region Yixi Zheng, David P. Stevens, Karen J. Heywood, Benjamin G. M. Webber, and Bastien Y. Queste https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6757570

TD data from the NBP 19/02 cruise as part of the NERC-NSF ITGC TARSAN project in the Amundsen Sea, campaign during austral summer 2018/2019 B. Y. Queste and A. K. Wåhlin https://doi.org/10.5285/e338af5d-8622-05de-e053-6c86abc06489

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Short summary
New observations reveal the Thwaites gyre in a habitually ice-covered region in the Amundsen Sea for the first time. This gyre rotates anticlockwise, despite the wind here favouring clockwise gyres like the Pine Island Bay gyre – the only other ocean gyre reported in the Amundsen Sea. We use an ocean model to suggest that sea ice alters the wind stress felt by the ocean and hence determines the gyre direction and strength. These processes may also be applied to other gyres in polar oceans.
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