Talk:Antarctic bottom water

Comment
What is the reference for the T & S properties? They don't agree with http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?id=antarctic-bottom-water1 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.129.42.222 (talk) 13:22, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

Opening Paragraph
The original read this way: ''The Antarctic bottom water (AABW) is a type of water mass in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica with temperatures ranging from 0 to -0.8 °C, salinities from 34.6 to 34.7 psu. The major significance of AABW is that it is the coldest bottom water, giving it a significant influence on the movement of the world's oceans. The potential temperature of the AABW is less than 0 °C. AABW also has a high oxygen content given by the oxidation of deteriorating organic content in the deep ocean and has been considered the "ventilation of the deep ocean."[citation needed] Compared to other water masses, AABW is characteristically cold and fresh.'' This is clearly non-sense because the decay of organic matter consumes oxygen rather than adding oxygen. I have changed the wording as follows:''The Antarctic bottom water is a type of water mass in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica with temperatures ranging from 0 to -0.8 °C (31 °F), salinities from 34.6 to 34.7 psu. The major significance of Antarctic bottom water is that it is the coldest bottom water, giving it a significant influence on the movement of the world's oceans. Antarctic bottom water also has a high oxygen content relative to the rest of the oceans' deep waters. This, thanks to the oxidation of deteriorating organic content in rest of the deep oceans. Antarctic Bottom Water has been considered the ventilation of the deep ocean. Compared to other water masses, Antarctic bottom water is characteristically cold and relatively fresh.'' -- Brothernight (talk) 23:45, 19 December 2011 (UTC) On further reflection, I have decided that the last sentence in the original paragraph is not even remotely reasonable given what I know about salt water. It says, AABW is characteristically cold and fresh. Cold? Yes. Fresh? No, not unless it is melt water from the ice and there is no reasonable explanation for that. On the other hand, there is an explanation for relatively salty water and so I have decided to delete my version of this sentence. -- Brothernight (talk) 00:30, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Formation and Circulation
I have edited out the spelling errors and have tried my best to puzzle out what the original text was trying to say, but have given up. I have decided that further work on the existing text is not an option. It has entirely too many inaccuracies for me to sort out and it makes no sense whatsoever. For instance, polynyas form only in sea ice, which is different from shelf ice. Shelf ice is ice that has originated on land by the freezing of fresh water and has then been pushed out over a body of salt water. Sea ice is very different. It is water that got cold enough that, despite its salt content, froze. What is left behind whenever salt water is frozen is saltier water. The same goes for evaporative cooling by wind. When wind picks up water vapor by blowing across the water, it will leave most of the salts behind, resulting in water that is colder and denser than the water not similarly exposed.

There are also far less subtle errors made in this section. The Equatorial Channel is not at 35°W longitude. It is at 73°E longitude. The Giana Basin is well west of 35°W longitude and is on the northern end of the South American Continent which means that the Antarctic Bottom water would have to turn almost ninety degrees to reach that basin. The Romanche Fracture Zone does cross the putative course of the Antarctic bottom water, but it is well south of the Giana Basin and its western end is much farther south than its eastern end. If other forces or ocean bottom topology is involved, this section does not mention them. The single most egregious error in this section is the last sentence and it says, This northward movement amounts to 2.5 Sv per year. The Sv unit is a measure of radiation exposure, not distance. -- Brothernight (talk) 01:15, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

I appreciate the comments very much and I welcome the input. Please help me to make this article better. I used the Sv to represent the oceanographic unit Sverdrups. This equates to 10^6 m^3 s^-1. let me know if you need any information or sources. Am I misunderstanding the definition of polynyas? I thought on the Antarctic continent they were by shelf ice and not necessarily from sea ice? Also, please note that I am not the original author of this article and some may be remnants from a prior change. Pilotjoe (talk) 04:38, 11 January 2012 (UTC)

I cleaned up the reference to the Weddell Sea Bottom Water, which is part of the AABW, and not distinct. The reference to the AABW being seasonal doesnt really make sense -- parts of the AABW approach 1000 years old. I think the author meant that formation is seasonal. I also added a little bit from some papers I've recently read. I think this article is starting to shape up, and I have removed it from stub status. Eaghassi (talk) 21:45, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

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Impossible
Deep ocean water cannot be at -0,8 degrees C, since maximum density of water is at 4º C. --Fev 18:45, 3 January 2018 (UTC)

That is freshwater, seawater has differing properties due to the salt dissolved in it which increases its density, amongst other things. https://www.open.edu/openlearn/pluginfile.php/471504/mod_oucontent/oucontent/18543/ddd2c58c/45187301/s206_blk1_part5_f3_04.eps.jpg 194.230.158.156 (talk) 20:58, 11 July 2022 (UTC)