The characteristics of warm water inflowing and its temporal and spatial variation on the Prydz Bay continental shelf, Antarctic

Hydrographic observations collected by conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) and instrumented elephant seals on the Prydz Bay continental shelf during 2012 and 2013 are used to characterize the intrusion of modified circumpolar deep water. As a regular occurrence, modified circumpolar deep water (MCDW) intrudes onto the shelf mainly between 150–300 m layer of 73°–75°E and then turns southeast affected by the cyclonic gyre of the Prydz Bay. The southernmost point of the warm water signal is captured on the east front of Amery Ice Shelf during March 2012. In terms of vertical distribution, MCDW occupies the central layer of 200 m with about 100 m thickness in the austral summer, but when to winter transition, the layer of MCDW deepens with time on the central shelf.