Recent observations of seasonal variability of the Mediterranean outflow in the Strait of Gibraltar

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Read Full Article (file size: 513461 bytes) Cited by JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 112, C10005, doi:10.1029/2006JC003992, 2007 Recent observations of seasonal variability of the Mediterranean outflow in the Strait of Gibraltar J. García Lafuente Grupo de Oceanografía Física, University of Málaga, Málaga, Spain A. Sánchez Román Grupo de Oceanografía Física, University of Málaga, Málaga, Spain G. Díaz del Río Laboratorio Oceanográfico de A Coruña, Instituto Español de Oceanografía, A Coruña, Spain G. Sannino Ocean Modeling Unit-Special Project Global Climate–ENEA, C.R. Casaccia, Rome, Italy J. C. Sánchez Garrido Grupo de Oceanografía Física, University of Málaga, Málaga, Spain Grupo de Puertos y Costas, University of Granada, Granada, Spain Abstract Recent observations of the outflowing Mediterranean water collected near the bottom in key points of the Strait of Gibraltar show the existence of a seasonal cycle with warmer and lighter waters leaving the Mediterranean Sea in winter and cooler and denser waters in spring early summer. The amplitude of the signal is around 5 10⁻² °C for potential temperature and 1.5 10⁻² for potential density, salinity hardly showing seasonal fluctuations. The outflow also shows a seasonal cycle with maximum volume transport in April, in coincidence with the minimum of the signal of potential temperature. A simple analysis of the composition of the outflow in terms of the main water masses of the western Mediterranean basin and its comparison with climate indicators suggests that the seasonal cycle follows the annual process of the Western Mediterranean Deep Water formation that replenish the deep portion of the basin by the end of winter and rises the level of the deep water reservoir, facilitating the suction of cooler and denser water from the Mediterranean over the sills of the Strait. From this time onwards, the data show a smooth warming that would be explained by the progressive fall of the level of the Western Mediterranean Deep Water as it is drained out the Mediterranean, which would leave warmer water available for suction. The process is asymmetric in the sense that the transition from high to low temperature is completed in a short period while the progressive warming spans a longer period. Received 26 October 2006; accepted 13 June 2007; published 4 October 2007. Keywords: Mediterranean outflow; potential temperature; espartel sill; camarinal sill; Western Mediterranean Deep Water; levantine intermediate water; seasonal cycle. Index Terms: 4553 Oceanography: Physical: Overflows; 4562 Oceanography: Physical: Topographic/bathymetric interactions; 4243 Oceanography: General: Marginal and semi-enclosed seas; 4227 Oceanography: General: Diurnal, seasonal, and annual cycles (0438); 4277 Oceanography: General: Time series experiments (1872, 3270, 4475). Read Full Article (file size: 513461 bytes) Cited by Citation: García Lafuente, J., A. Sánchez Román, G. Díaz del Río, G. Sannino, and J. C. Sánchez Garrido (2007), Recent observations of seasonal variability of the Mediterranean outflow in the Strait of Gibraltar, J. Geophys. Res., 112, C10005, doi:10.1029/2006JC003992. Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union.

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