Summary
Thermobaric instability was not observed directly during the ANZFLUX 94 project but there is a strong inference that it occurred shortly after.
About ¼ of the profiles observed with the yoyo CTD system during the Maud Rise drift went thermobarically unstable by the end of winter in a simple 1-D model forced with drifting buoy data.
In the model, preconditioning of the initial density profile to include distinct step-like structure in the upper pyncnocline was necessary for instability.
Steps were found mostly in the “halo” region surrounding Maud Rise (2500-3000 m isobaths)