The Mediterranean Sea Overturning Circulation

Author:

Pinardi Nadia1,Cessi Paola2,Borile Federica3,Wolfe Christopher L. P.4

Affiliation:

1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Bologna, and Istituto nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Bologna, Italy

2. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California

3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Bologna, and Centro EuroMediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici, Bologna, Italy

4. School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York

Abstract

AbstractThe time-mean zonal and meridional overturning circulations of the entire Mediterranean Sea are studied in both the Eulerian and residual frameworks. The overturning is characterized by cells in the vertical and either zonal or meridional planes with clockwise circulations in the upper water column and counterclockwise circulations in the deep and abyssal regions. The zonal overturning is composed of an upper clockwise cell in the top 600 m of the water column related to the classical Wüst cell and two additional deep clockwise cells, one corresponding to the outflow of the dense Aegean water during the Eastern Mediterranean Transient (EMT) and the other associated with dense water formation in the Rhodes Gyre. The variability of the zonal overturning before, during, and after the EMT is discussed. The meridional basinwide overturning is composed of clockwise, multicentered cells connected with the four northern deep ocean formation areas, located in the Eastern and Western Mediterranean basins. The connection between the Wüst cell and the meridional overturning is visualized through the horizontal velocities vertically integrated across two layers above 600 m. The component of the horizontal velocity associated with the overturning is isolated by computing the divergent components of the vertically integrated velocities forced by the inflow/outflow at the Strait of Gibraltar.

Funder

National Science Foundation

Ministry of Science and Technology

Publisher

American Meteorological Society

Subject

Oceanography

Reference71 articles.

1. Sensitivity of Mediterranean thermohaline circulation to gateway depth: A model investigation

2. Multiple equilibria and overturning variability of the Aegean-Adriatic Seas

3. Andrews, D. G., J. R. Holton, and C. B. Leovy, 1987: Middle Atmosphere Dynamics. International Geophysics Series, Vol. 40, Academic Press, 489 pp.

4. Eddy parameterization challenge suite I: Eady spindown

Cited by 48 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3