Temperature, salinity and current turbulence along an east to west transect across McMurdo Sound

It is intended that the research carried out here will in time be able to be applied to a much wider Antarctic marine environment and consequently lead to a greater understanding of the relationship between the sea ice and the underlying ocean. The CTD profiles will be used to describe the water column structure of the sound and to investigate spatial variability in distribution of water masses, particularly Ice Shelf Water (ISW).

Comparison with platelet ice abundance measurements from ice cores collected from the same sites will help to identify a causal link between flow of ISW, formation of frazil ice in the water column, and deposition of platelet ice as a method of sea-ice growth.