The Italian Marine Observatory in the Ross Sea (MORSea)
Castagno P.1, Cotroneo Y.1, Falco P.1 2, Giglio F.3, Langone L.3, Budillon G.1
1Università degli Studi di Napoli “Parthenope” – Napoli ITALY
2Università Politecnica delle MARCHE - Ancona ITALY
3Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – Bologna ITALY
Since 1994, the PNRA (Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide – Italian National Program for Antarctic Research, www.pnra.aq) has deployed a conspicuous number of oceanographic moorings in the Ross Sea (Figure 1). The moorings were deployed to monitor the oceanographic condition of the shelf waters, the precursor of the Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), and to study the biogeochemical cycles of the largest Antarctic continental shelf sea and most biologically productive region of the Southern Ocean. Recently, the moorings have been modified to support the scientific focuses of the newly founded projects.
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mooring “B” is located in the Joides Basin and operates from 1994 collecting mainly data for studies on bio-geochemical fluxes in the water column;
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mooring “D” and “L” are located in the area of the Terra Nova Bay polynya. Mooring D is active from 1995 and is positioned in the deepest part of the Drygalski Basin, whereas mooring L is located close to the coast in front of the Italian Antarctic station “Mario Zucchelli” in the Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) of Terra Nova Bay;
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mooring “G” is located in the northern Drygalski Basin, 30 nautical miles south of the shelf break. It collects thermohaline and current meter data from 2003 in the bottom layer of the trough that is occupied by the High Salinity Shelf Water, the densest shelf water of the Southern Ocean. Recently this mooring has been modified to also collect data at the depth of MCDW intrusion onto the Ross Sea continental shelf.
During the last expedition of the Italian PNRA in the Ross Sea (2020-21) on board of the new Italian icebreaker “Laura Bassi”, the MORSea moorings were recovered, maintained and redeployed improving the thermohaline, current and geochemical time series in the Ross Sea.
Figure 1 – The Italian oceanographic mooring network in the Ross Sea deployed in the framework of the Italian PNRA from 1994 to 2021. Red dots indicate mooring currently active.
MORSea also includes along-track oceanographic measurements between New Zealand and Antarctica. Sub-surface temperature and salinity data (thermosalinograph), water column temperature data (XBT probes) and deployments of drifters and floats in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current band in cooperation with Argo-Italy.
Recent publications from MORSea:
