  Knowledge of the past behavior of Antarctic polynyas such as the Ross and
Weddell Seas contributes to the understanding of biological productivity, sea
ice production, katabatic and Southern Hemisphere Westerly (SHW) wind strength,
Antarctic bottom water (ABW) formation, and marine CO2 sequestration. Previous
studies link barium (Ba) marine sedimentation to polynya primary productivity
(Bonn et al., 1998; McManus et al., 2002; Pirrung et al., 2008), polynya area
to katabatic wind strength and proximal cyclones (Bromwich et al., 1998;
Drucker et al., 2011), and highlight the influence of Ross Ice Shelf calving
event effects on the Ross Sea Polynya (RSP) (Rhodes et al., 2009). Here we use
the RICE ice core, located just 120 km from the Ross Ice Shelf front to capture
1150 years of RSP behavior. We link atmospheric Ba fluctuations to Ba marine
sedimentation in the summer Ross Sea Polynya, creating the first deep ice core
based RSP proxy. RSP area is currently the smallest ever observed over our
1150-year record, and varied throughout the Little Ice Age with fluctuations in
Amundsen Sea Low (ASL) strength related with Ross Sea cyclones. Past RSP
reconstructions allow us to predict future responses of RSP area to future
climate change, which is of special interest considering the recent
disappearance of the Weddell Sea Polynya in response to anthropogenic forcing
(de Lavergne et al., 2014).
