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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub"></issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2025-5692</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>The answer is blowing in the wind: seasonal hydrography and mixing of the inner sea of Tierra del Fuego, Southern Patagonia</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Castillo</surname>
<given-names>Manuel I.</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3984-8837</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff8">
<sup>8</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Zuñiga</surname>
<given-names>Constanza</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff6">
<sup>6</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Barrios-Guzmán</surname>
<given-names>Carmen</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8899-5003</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Cisternas</surname>
<given-names>Natalia</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Garces-Vargas</surname>
<given-names>José</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6542-9348</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Landaeta</surname>
<given-names>Mauricio F.</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff7">
<sup>7</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff8">
<sup>8</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Piñones</surname>
<given-names>Andrea</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff7">
<sup>7</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Rojas-Celis</surname>
<given-names>Marcela</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff6">
<sup>6</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Guerrero</surname>
<given-names>Alicia I.</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8900-1303</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Sepúlveda</surname>
<given-names>Maritza</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1403-176X</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Laboratorio de Ecología y Conservación de Mamíferos Marinos (LECMMAR), Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Laboratorio de Oceanografía Física y Satelital (LOFISAT), Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Laboratorio de Ictiología e Interacciones Biofísicas (LABITI), Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff5">
<label>5</label>
<addr-line>Centro FONDAP de Investigación en Dinámica de Ecosistemas Marinos de Altas Latitudes (IDEAL), Universidad Austral de Chile, Chile</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff6">
<label>6</label>
<addr-line>Programa de Magister en Oceanografía, PUCV/UV</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff7">
<label>7</label>
<addr-line>Millennium Institute Biodiversity of Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic Ecosystems (BASE), Santiago, Chile</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff8">
<label>8</label>
<addr-line>Centro de Observación y Análisis del Océano Costero, COSTAR-UV, Universidad de Valparaiso, Chile</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>26</day>
<month>11</month>
<year>2025</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2025</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>40</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2025 Manuel I. Castillo et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2025</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-5692/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-5692/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-5692/egusphere-2025-5692.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-5692/egusphere-2025-5692.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>This study characterizes seasonal hydrography and mixing processes in Almirantazgo Fjord, a sensitive ecosystem in southern Chilean Patagonia. Although estuarine and tidal forcing conventionally explain fjord dynamics, wind stress effects remain less understood in this high-latitude region. The study analyses a comprehensive six-month dataset including a moored time-series of temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen, cross-fjord CTD transects, and hydrographic profiles derived from seal-deployed sensors. Observations indicate distinct seasonality, shifting from a stratified water column in summer &amp;ndash; defined by low-salinity surface water from glacial melt &amp;ndash; to a mixed winter state with significantly reduced vertical stability. The analysis identifies persistent, topographically channelled up-fjord winds as a primary physical driver. By applying the Wedderburn number (W&lt;sub&gt;b&lt;/sub&gt;) and mechanical energy balance calculations, we determined that wind stress perturb the pycnocline (W&lt;sub&gt;b&lt;/sub&gt; &amp;gt; 1); furthermore, wind power input rivals that of estuarine circulation during stratified summer periods. Under such conditions, wind forcing amplifies vertical mixing, modulates the pressure gradient, and supports deep-water oxygenation. First-order flushing time estimates suggest slow deep-basin renewal (greater than 5 months), signalling sensitivity to physical forcing. These results indicate that wind constitutes a primary mechanism regulating the hydrographic structure and biogeochemical function of the Tierra del Fuego inner sea.</p>
</abstract>
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<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo</funding-source>
<award-id>ATE220033</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs2">
<funding-source>Ministerio de Educación, Gobierno de Chile</funding-source>
<award-id>RED 21992</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
</article-meta>
</front>
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