We assessed the impact of the Zonal Wave-3 atmospheric mode on the Antarctic Margins. The Zonal Wave-3 mode is the first mode of meridional winds over the Southern Ocean and has been linked to important sea ice and heat flux anomalies. It is expected to become stronger in the future, but there is only very limited knowledge on its impact on the Southern Ocean beneath sea ice. We set up a range of atmospheric perturbation on the ACCESS-OM2 ocean–sea ice model to assess the regional impact of the ZW3 mode and its different phases on the subpolar Southern Ocean.

This work aimed to understand the influences of tropical to high-latitude Southern Hemisphere teleconnections on Southern Ocean atmospheric circulation, the air-sea-sea ice system, and Antarctic sea ice variability. It also sought to investigate how the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) interacts with tropically-forced climate patterns such as Zonal Wave 3 (ZW3) to affect high-latitude atmospheric circulation and impact sea-ice.