Open-ocean polynyas are large openings in a sea-ice field, often associated with deep vertical mixing in the ocean that prominently impacts the regional heat and carbon budgets. The Weddell Sea saw the opening of open-ocean polynyas in recent years. Multiple studies have identified the large-scale circulation features in the region to have played an important role in pre-conditioning the region to form polynyas. In this talk, designed for a general audience, Dr Narayanan will show that the ocean was inherently stable despite the large-scale circulation conspiring to weaken the stratification. Further, Dr Narayanan will show how hitherto unexplored smaller scale, wind-driven cross-frontal mixing processes near a subsea mount were necessary to break the inherent stability of the system, ultimately leading to the formation of the polynya. These results illustrate how highly localized interactions between wind, ocean flow and topography can trigger polynya formation in the open Southern Ocean.​