Description: In the Amundsen Sea, warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) intrudes onto the continental shelf and flows into the ice shelf cavities of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, resulting in high basal melt rates. However, none of the high resolution global models resolving all the small ice shelves around Antarctica can reproduce a realistic CDW flow onto the Amundsen Sea continental shelf, and previous studies show simulated bottom potential temperature at the Pine Island Ice Shelf front of about −1.8 °C. In this study, using the Finite-Element Sea ice–ice shelf-Ocean Model (FESOM), we reproduce warm CDW intrusions onto the Amundsen Sea continental shelf and realistic melt rates of the ice shelves in West Antarctica. To investigate the importance of horizontal resolution, forcing, horizontal diffusivity, and the effect of grounded icebergs, eight sensitivity experiments are conducted. To simulate the CDW intrusion realistically, a horizontal resolution of about 5 km or smaller is required. The choice of forcing is also important and the cold bias in the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis over the eastern Amundsen Sea prevents warm CDW from intruding onto the continental shelf. On the other hand, the CDW intrusion is not highly sensitive to the strength of horizontal diffusion. The effect of grounded icebergs located off Bear Peninsula is minor, but may act as a buffer to an anomalously cold year.

Description: The region of the Filchner Outflow System (FOS) in the southeastern Weddell Sea is characterized by intensive and complex interactions of different water masses. Dense Ice Shelf Water (ISW) emerging from beneath the ice shelf cavities on the continental shelf, meets Modified Warm Deep Water (MWDW) originating from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current at the sill of the Filchner Trough. These hydrographic features convert the FOS into an oceanographic key region, which may also show enhanced biological productivity and corresponding aggregations of marine top predators. In this context, six adult Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) were instrumented with CTD-combined satellite relay data loggers in austral summer 2014. By means of these long-term data loggers we aimed at investigating the influence of environmental conditions on the seals’ foraging behaviour throughout seasons, focussing on the local oceanographic features. Weddell seals performed pelagic and demersal dives, mainly on the continental shelf, where they presumably exploited the abundant bentho-pelagic fish fauna. Diurnal and seasonal variations in light availability affected foraging activities. MWDW was associated with increased foraging effort. However, we observed differences in movements and habitat use between two different groups of Weddell seals. Seals tagged in the pack ice of the FOS focussed their foraging activities to the western and, partly, eastern flank of the Filchner Trough, which coincides with inflow pathways of MWDW. In contrast, Weddell seals tagged on the coastal fast ice exhibited typical central-place foraging and utilized resources close to their colony. High foraging effort in MWDW and high utilization of areas associated with an inflow of MWDW raise questions on the underlying biological features. This emphasizes the importance of further interdisciplinary ecological investigations in the near future, as the FOS may soon be impacted by predicted climatic changes.