ALBION 2011
| Type | Oceanographic cruise |
|---|---|
| Set | This cruise is part of the set ALBION |
| Ship | L'Astrolabe |
| Ship owner | IPEV |
| Dates | 10/01/2011 - 19/01/2011 |
| Chief scientist(s) | HOUSSAIS Marie-Noëlle |
LABORATOIRE D'OCÉANOGRAPHIE ET DU CLIMAT : EXPÉRIMENTATIONS ET APPROCHES NUMÉRIQUES - UMR 7159 Institut Pierre Simon Laplace Boîte 100 4 place Jussieu 75005 Paris +33 (1) 44 27 32 48 |
|
| DOI | 10.17600/11210050 |
| Objective | ALBION's objective was to study the formation of the Adelie Land Bottom Water (ALBW), which is a major source of Antarctic bottom water. More specifically, the project is studying the formation of the High Salinity Shelf Water (HSSW), the precursor to ALBW formed offshore from Adelie Land in the coastal polynia located west of the Mertz glacier. It included a process study to understand how this water was formed, is transformed on the shelf and is exported toward the Australian-Antarctic basin below the Adelie sill. Thanks to a regular annual visit to the site, the project also proposes to monitor the variability of the environment's physical characteristics (water bodies, circulation) to understand its link with atmospheric forcing, distribution of sea ice and the evolution of the Mertz glacier tongue. A series of hydrological stations was performed to recreate the distribution of water bodies and their circulation. Rejuvenation of 3 of the 4 sites with instrumented moorings during ALBION-2010: Dumont d'Urville trough, Commonwealth Bay and Adelie Sill and instrumentation of a new site to the west of the Adelie trough. This falls under the ALBION project. |
