Selected NOx profiles of the Antarctic lower stratosphere inferred from OSIRIS NO2 observations are presented from the austral spring of 2003. These observations show a tongue of NOx at 100 hPa, with a concentration typical of the middle stratosphere. Simulations with the Global Environmental Multiscale model show that this small-scale tongue of NOx-rich air descended into the lower stratosphere. The tongue was formed as a result of a Rossby wave breaking days earlier, transporting NO x from the pole, where larger concentrations had recently appeared, to the edge of the vortex. The three-dimensional structure of the breaking wave is illustrated in detail.