title: Ocean processes at the Antarctic continental slope.
abstract: The Antarctic continental shelves and slopes occupy relatively small areas, but, nevertheless, are important for global climate, biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem functioning. Processes of water mass transformation through sea ice formation/melting and ocean-atmosphere interaction are key to the formation of deep and bottom waters as well as determining the heat flux beneath ice shelves. Climate models, however, struggle to capture these physical processes and are unable to reproduce water mass properties of the region. Dynamics at the continental slope are key for correctly modelling climate, yet their small spatial scale presents challenges both for ocean modelling and for observational studies. Cross-slope exchange processes are also vital for the flux of nutrients such as iron from the continental shelf into the mixed layer of the Southern Ocean. An iron-cycling model embedded in an eddy-permitting ocean model reveals the importance of sedimentary iron in fertilizing parts of the Southern Ocean. Ocean gliders play a key role in improving our ability to observe and understand these small-scale processes at the continental shelf break. The Gliders: Excellent New Tools for Observing the Ocean (GENTOO) project deployed three Seagliders for up to two months in early 2012 to sample the water to the east of the Antarctic Peninsula in unprecedented temporal and spatial detail. The glider data resolve small-scale exchange processes across the shelf-break front (the Antarctic Slope Front) and the front's biogeochemical signature. GENTOO demonstrated the capability of ocean gliders to play a key role in a future multi-disciplinary Southern Ocean observing system.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK k.heywood@uea.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Karen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Heywood
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.
authors.forename: Sunke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schmidtko
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Heuzé
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaiser
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.
authors.forename: Timothy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Jickells
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.
authors.forename: Bastien Y
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Queste
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Mathematics, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Mathematics, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wadley
authors.affiliation: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fielding
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK.
authors.forename: Damien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guihen
authors.affiliation: Kongsberg Underwater Technology, Inc., Lynnwood, WA 98036, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Creed
authors.affiliation: Met Office Hadley Centre, Exeter EX1 3PB, UK.
authors.forename: Jeff K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Ridley
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, VA 23062, USA.
authors.forename: Walker
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Smith
keywords: Antarctic Slope Front; Antarctic continental shelf; climate
  model; iron fertilization; ocean glider; water mass