Water masses distribution offshore the Sabrina Coast (East Antarctica)

Current glacier melt rates in West Antarctica substantially exceed those around the East Antarctic margin. The exception is Wilkes Land, where for example Totten Glacier underwent significant retreat between 2000 and 2012, underlining its sensitivity to climate change. This process is strongly influenced by ocean dynamics, which in turn changes in accordance with the evolution of the ice caps. Here, we present new oceanographic data (temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen) collected during austral summer 2017 offshore the Sabrina Coast (East Antarctica) from the continental shelf break to ca 3000ĝ€¯m depth. This area is characterized by very few oceanographic in situ observations. The main water masses of the study area, identified by analysing thermohaline properties, are the Antarctic Surface Water with potential temperature θ>-1.5g€¯gC and salinity S<34.2 (σθ<27.55g€¯kgm-3), the Winter Water with -1.92<θ<-1.75g€¯gC and 34.0<S<34.5 (potential density, 27.55<σθ<27.7g€¯kgm-3), the...