Sea ice feedbacks observed in western Weddell Sea

The western Weddell Sea is the largest region of perennial sea ice in the Southern Ocean. Although poorly explored, earlier studies suggest that it hosts important sources for deep and bottom water ventilating of the global abyss. Ocean structure limits ice melt because the oceanic heat flux is only a few watts per square meter, and wind change in summer prevents the large‐scale northward movement of the pack ice [Hunke andAckley, 2001]. As the ice melts,the absence of melt ponds and the development of gap‐like porous internal layers with extremely high amounts of algal standing stocks have large implications for primary productivity and biogeochemical cycles.