Causes of deep-water variations: Reply to comment by E. Fahrbach, M. Hoppema, G. Rohardt, M. Schrِder and A. Wisotzki

Vertically integrated heat content from the Weddell Sea along 69 °S in vicinity of the Greenwich meridian from the 1977–2001 period is presented. This demonstrates that the east-west variability in the area is lower than the natural variability. The sensitivity on the choice of lower boundary for the heat content integral is discussed in relation to upwelling from the deeper water masses. The cooling around Maud Rise during the 1990ʹs on the order of 20 W/m2 remains significant, and may be explained by increased surface heat fluxes during winter months with lower than normal sea ice concentration.