Results

Separated in time by usually years, repeat CTD sections provide spatially highly resolved snapshots of water properties along a given transect through the ocean.  This data serve to, e.g., establish the volume of water belonging to a certain water mass and to estimate the amount of heat or gases and dissolved substances such as CO₂ and nutrients stored therein.  In Figure 7for example the volume of Antarctic Bottom Water (delineated by a lower black line) steadily decreases while this water mass slowly gets warmer, i.e. takes up heat. 

Repeat sections employing high-precision CTDs (with absolute accuracies better than 0.001°C in temperature upheld for now approaching three decades) allow capturing the ever so slightly increase of ocean bottom temperatures as depicted in Figure 8 by one of the longest oceanic time series at the 61°S 00°E, in the northeastern-most extent of the Weddell Gyre, where at least some of the AABW is believed to escape to the North. 

Along with (electronic) CTD measurements, water samples are collected throughout the water column to be retrospectively analyzed on board or back in the laboratory for concentrations of various trace gases and carbon constituents.  Measurements of Total CO₂ in the Surface and Bottom Waters of the Weddell Sea, reveal a steady CO₂ increase, of likely anthropogenic origin, as surface water, charged with anthropogenic CO₂, is a major component with the formation of WSBW (Van Heuven et al. 2011). The findings reflect the deep-sea sequestration of anthropogenic CO₂, thus contributing to diminishing the burden of excess CO₂ in the atmosphere. The largest increase is found for NC_T in the surface layer (Van Heuven et al. 2014). Here, uptake of excess CO₂, i.e. anthropogenic CO₂, from the atmosphere has obviously occurred.