Ross Sea Polynya

The Ross Sea polynya is a recurring coastal polynya along the front of the Ross Ice Shelf, one of the most productive in Antarctica. Katabatic winds off the ice shelf push newly formed ice northward, exposing water that freezes again and rejects brine, so it is a latent-heat polynya and a factory for High Salinity Shelf Water that feeds Antarctic Bottom Water. The open and thin-ice area drives strong air-sea heat exchange and a spring phytoplankton bloom. It opens early in the freezing season and is tracked in passive-microwave concentration fields and ice charts as a stable low-concentration feature.