Terra Nova Bay

Location of Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica

Terra Nova Bay is a bay which is often ice free, about 64 km (40 mi) long, lying between Cape Washington and the Drygalski Ice Tongue along the coast of Victoria Land, Antarctica.^[1] It was discovered by the British National Antarctic Expedition (known as the Discovery Expedition) under Robert Falcon Scott, 1901–1904, and named by him after Terra Nova, one of the relief ships for the expedition.^[1] The Italian permanent Zucchelli Station is located in the bay, as is the Jang Bogo Station of South Korea. The Chinese are building a station on Inexpressible Island, which will be there fifth station in Antarctica.^[2].

During the winter the bay is often sea ice free and acting as a coastal polynya due to the katabatic winds that blow off the David, Reeves and Priestly glaciers and Nansen Ice shelf, making this an important region for sea ice formation and high salinity shelf water.^[3][4]

Geography

The ice shelves and glaciers around Terra Nova Bay play an important role in the dynamics of Terra Nova Bay and their area ranges from tens of km² to 2000km^{2 [3]}. The Reeves Glacier and Priestly Glacier feed into the Nansen Ice Shelf on the western side of Terra Nova Bay, the David glacier in the southwestern corner discharges into the ocean as the Drygalski Ice Tongue.^[3] The Larsen Glacier is located just north of the David Glacier, in the south west corner of the bay together with the Relief Inlet can be found in the south west corner of the Bay.^[5]. Hells Gate is a small ice sheet that floats between Inexpressible Vegetation and Northern foothills islands. Mount Melbourne, an active volcano in located on the Northern side of Terra Nova Bay near Cape Washington.^[3]

Climate

The climate in Terra Nova Bay is mostly dominated by the katabatic winds that blow off the David, Reeves and Priestly glaciers and Nansen Ice shelf.^[4] Temperatures recorded by weather stations around Zucchelli Station, the Italian base, are between +2 and −20 °C (36 and −4 °F) in January and between −20 and −30 °C (−4 and −22 °F) in the winter months. Relative humidity is around 50% all year round, but due to the cold temperatures, the amount of water vapor is very low.^[6] Wind is a dominant factor in the climate of Terra Nova Bay, it experiences katabatic winds from the west, barrier winds from the south and eastern flows. The katabatic winds are particularly strong in Terra Nova Bay and originate from the SW if from the Priestly glacier and NW if from the Reeves glacier, forming a polynya event. In summer 30% of the winds are katabatic and 50% in winter and are often paired with Lee waves and clear skies. The cyclone of the Ross Sea pushes air off the Ross shelf northward along the mountain range on Victoria land, causing relative humid southern winds along the coast.^[6]

Antarctic Specially Protected Area

A marine area of 29.4 km² (11.4 sq mi) of the bay comprising a narrow strip of coastal waters about 9.4 km (5.8 mi) long, to the immediate south of Zucchelli Station, and extending to a maximum of 7 km (4.3 mi) from the shore, has been designated an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA 161). It is an important site for long-term research on the marine ecology of benthic communities. As well as rich and complex sponge and anthozoan communities, the site supports a colony of Adélie penguins at Adélie Cove.^[7]