Abstract 



A physical and chemical investigation of the Weddell Sea Coastal Cur- 

 rent was made during the austral summer of 1970 as part of the Inter- 

 national Weddell Sea Oceanographic Expedition. This Coastal Current has 

 been hypothesized to be a major component in the formation of Antarctic 

 Bottom Water. The 1970 data indicated that the Coastal Current existed 

 from the surface to the abyssal depths in the eastern Weddell Sea and that 

 it decreased in temperature and increased in salinity as it flowed south 

 over the continental shelf. This may be due to alteration of the shelf water 

 as it flowed along and under the extensive ice shelves along the east coast or 

 surface cooling. Nutrient concentrations below the surface layer remained 

 relatively constant from station to station on the shelf. From the edge of 

 the shelf to the depth of 2000 meters Warm Deep Water was found to have 

 the highest nutrient concentrations. This warm water is believed to be 

 carried into the Weddell Sea by a branch of the Circumpolar Current. 

 Origin of the abyssal water in the eastern Coastal Current is unknown. 



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