scholarly journals Spreading of the Western Mediterranean Deep Water after winter 2005: Time scales and deep cyclone transport

2012 ◽  
Vol 117 (C7) ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Beuvier ◽  
K. Béranger ◽  
C. Lebeaupin Brossier ◽  
S. Somot ◽  
F. Sevault ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Deep Cyclone

scholarly journals Propagation of North Atlantic Deep Water Anomalies

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 1831-1848 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Nieves ◽  
Michael Spall
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Condition ◽  
Layer Thickness ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Volume Flux ◽  
Reduced Gravity ◽  
Northern Boundary ◽  
Variable Source ◽  
Gravity Equations

AbstractWe present a simplified theory using reduced-gravity equations for North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) and its variation driven by high-latitude deep-water formation. The theory approximates layer thickness on the eastern boundary with domain-averaged layer thickness and, in tandem with a mass conservation argument, retains fundamental physics for cross-equatorial flows on interannual and longer forcing time scales. Layer thickness anomalies are driven by a time-dependent northern boundary condition that imposes a southward volume flux representative of a variable source of NADW and damped by diapycnal mixing throughout the basin. Moreover, an outflowing southern boundary condition imposes a southward volume flux that generally differs from the volume flux at the northern boundary, giving rise to temporal storage of NADW within the Atlantic basin. Closed form analytic solutions for the amplitude and phase are provided when the variable source of NADW is sinusoidal. We provide a nondimensional analysis that demonstrates that solution behavior is primarily controlled by two parameters that characterize the meridional extent of the southern basin and the width of the basin relative to the equatorial deformation radius. Similar scaling applied to the time-lagged equations of Johnson and Marshall provides a clear connection to their results. Numerical simulations of reduced-gravity equations agree with analytic predictions in linear, turbulent, and diabatic regimes. The theory introduces a simple analytic framework for studying idealized buoyancy- and wind-driven cross-equatorial flows on interannual and longer time scales.

scholarly journals Deep-water macroalgal-dominated coastal detritic assemblages on the continental shelf off Mallorca and Menorca (Balearic Islands, Western Mediterranean)

2012 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergi Joher ◽  
Enric Ballesteros ◽  
Emma Cebrian ◽  
Noemí Sánchez ◽  
Conxi Rodríguez-Prieto
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Balearic Islands

Assessment of the deep water trawl fishery off the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean): from single to multi-species approach

Hydrobiologia ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 670 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Guijarro ◽  
George Tserpes ◽  
Joan Moranta ◽  
Enric Massutí
Keyword(s):  
Deep Water ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Balearic Islands ◽  
Trawl Fishery

scholarly journals Tracers confirm downward mixing of Tyrrhenian Sea upper waters associated with the Eastern Mediterranean Transient

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1533-1557
Author(s):  
W. Roether ◽  
J. E. Lupton
Keyword(s):  
Deep Water ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
The Other ◽  
Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
Convective Mixing ◽  
Deep Waters ◽  
Major Process ◽  
Gibraltar Strait

Abstract. Observations of tritium and 3He in the Tyrrhenian Sea, 1987–2009, confirm the enhanced convective mixing of intermediate waters into the deep waters that has been noted and associated with the Eastern Mediterranean Transient in previous studies. Our evidence for the mixing rests on increasing tracer concentrations in the Tyrrhenian deep waters, accompanied by decreases in the upper waters, which are supplied from the Eastern Mediterranean. The downward transfer is particularly evident between 1987 and 1997. Later on, information partly rests on increasing tritium-3He ages; here we correct the observed 3He for contributions released from the ocean floor. The Tyrrhenian tracer distributions are fully compatible with data upstream of the Sicily Strait and in the Western Mediterranean. The tracer data show that mixing reached to the bottom and confirm a cyclonic nature of the deep water circulation in the Tyrrhenian. They furthermore indicate that horizontal homogenization of the deep waters occurs on a time scale of several years. Various features point to a reduced impact of Western Mediterranean Deep Water (WMDW) in the Tyrrhenian during the enhanced-convection period. This is an important finding because it implies less upward mixing of WMDW, which has been named a major process to enable the WMDW to leave the Mediterranean via the Gibraltar Strait. On the other hand, the TDW outflow for several years represented a major influx of enhanced salinity and density waters into the deep-water range of the Western Mediterranean.

scholarly journals Observations of new western Mediterranean deep water formation using Argo floats 2004–2006

Ocean Science ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. O. Smith ◽  
H. L. Bryden ◽  
K. Stansfield
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Temperature Increase ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Deep Water Formation ◽  
Western Basin ◽  
Water Formation ◽  
Salinity Increase ◽  
Mixed Layers

Abstract. The deep convection that occurs in the western basin of the Mediterranean Sea was investigated using Argo float data over two consecutive winters in 2004–2005 and 2005–2006. The results showed deep mixed layers reaching 2000 m in surprising locations, namely the eastern Catalan subbasin (39.785° N, 4.845° E) and the western Ligurian subbasin (43.392° N, 7.765° E). Subsequently, new deep water was formed in March of 2005 and 2006 with θ=12.89–12.92°C, S=38.48–38.49 and σθ=29.113 kg m−3. The deep water produced in the Ligurian subbasin during 2006 was more saline, warmer and denser than any historical observations of western Mediterranean deep water. The results show S, θ and σθ in the western Mediterranean deep water are higher than 1990s values, with a salinity increase of 1.5×10−3 yr−1, a temperature increase of 3.6×10−3 °C yr−1 and a density increase of 4.0×10−4 kg m−3 yr−1 apparent from a dataset of western Mediterranean deep water properties spanning 1955–2006.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document