T1-1 Polar oceans and their importance for global ocean circulation

The polar and sub-polar oceans play a vital role in climate, transforming warm, salty water into colder, fresher water that is exported equatorward in both bottom and intermediate layers. This session will discuss the processes by which water masses are changed through interaction with the atmosphere and with ice shelves, through sea ice melting and freezing, and through diapycnal and isopycnal mixing. The session is inspired by the efforts that have been made during the IPY and are still ongoing. An important issue is likely to be the documenting and understanding of changes observed in high-latitude water masses in recent decades. We particularly encourage young scientists and those from nations relatively new to polar ocean science to present their results. We will welcome abstracts on recent observational campaigns, synthesis efforts, analyses of historical or remotely sensed data, laboratory experiments, theory or numerical ocean/climate modelling.