Physical-Biogeochemical Coupling in the Southern Ocean

Over the past 15 years, physical and biogeochemical studies have established that the Southern Ocean, the region surrounding Antarctica, plays a disproportionately large role in modulating Earth's climate. Dense water masses that reside near the ocean bottom throughout mid- and low-latitude basins reach the surface in the Southern Ocean through a combination of wind- and eddy-induced transport. These waters are exposed to heat, freshwater fluxes, and atmospheric gases, which ventilate the deep-ocean reservoirs of heat and carbon.