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Two circulation regimes of the Mediterranean outflow revealed by Lagrangian measurements

Two circulation regimes of the Mediterranean outflow revealed by Lagrangian measurements
Two circulation regimes of the Mediterranean outflow revealed by Lagrangian measurements
The Eurofloat experiment was a joint initiative to examine the large-scale spreading of Mediterranean Water (MW) and Labrador Sea Water in the northeast North Atlantic. RAFOS float data from the southern (MW) portion of the Eurofloat experiment have been examined in conjunction with historical float data in order to calculate quasi-Eulerian means in an effort to separate and quantify the constituents of the spreading of the MW tongue east of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. While recent studies focussed chiefly on the role of meddies in the shaping of the MW tongue, this analysis also examines the tongue's second constituent, that is, the “background? (non-meddy advective and diffusive) flow. The results suggest the existence of two regimes approximately to the north and south of the 36°N parallel (i.e., the latitude of the Gulf of Cadiz), which are distinguished by different types of dominant spreading mechanisms for MW. To the south of the Gulf of Cadiz, the background flow shows an incoherent and weak mean, whereas the mean velocity of the salt enhanced meddies is strong and to the southwest. In contrast, to the north of 36°N the mean velocity of the meddies seems to be less pronounced and the background flow is shown to be a major component in the northwestward spreading of the MW tongue. The two regimes are separated by the Azores Current, which previously has been hypothesized to act as a dynamic barrier to the southward advective spreading of the background regime, which the meddies are able to penetrate because of their high kinetic energy. Overall, the meddies are calculated to contribute to approximately half of the total salinity anomaly flux.
woce, countryes, countryus, countrygr, countryde, countrygb, rafos floats, mediterranean sea, salinity, velocity, eulerian methods
0022-3670
1322-1330
Sparrow, M.
0a312725-a227-4199-8852-baf7a0869768
Boebel, O.
a4c78739-1574-4c84-8051-dd33ca1ea86b
Zervakis, V.
fcae66de-3f79-42d3-b8ef-3055b5bfd345
Zenk, W.
e7e04e7a-41d3-4030-8a1b-dbbb1b2f8aea
Cantos-Figuerola, A.
a3d08960-284c-43cd-b2ef-8a81d9bc69b0
Gould, W.J.
cc78ab8c-2258-4d84-97ea-6c7c1a64db48
Sparrow, M.
0a312725-a227-4199-8852-baf7a0869768
Boebel, O.
a4c78739-1574-4c84-8051-dd33ca1ea86b
Zervakis, V.
fcae66de-3f79-42d3-b8ef-3055b5bfd345
Zenk, W.
e7e04e7a-41d3-4030-8a1b-dbbb1b2f8aea
Cantos-Figuerola, A.
a3d08960-284c-43cd-b2ef-8a81d9bc69b0
Gould, W.J.
cc78ab8c-2258-4d84-97ea-6c7c1a64db48

Sparrow, M., Boebel, O., Zervakis, V., Zenk, W., Cantos-Figuerola, A. and Gould, W.J. (2002) Two circulation regimes of the Mediterranean outflow revealed by Lagrangian measurements. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 32 (5), 1322-1330. (doi:10.1175/1520-0485(2002)032<1322:TCROTM>2.0.CO;2).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The Eurofloat experiment was a joint initiative to examine the large-scale spreading of Mediterranean Water (MW) and Labrador Sea Water in the northeast North Atlantic. RAFOS float data from the southern (MW) portion of the Eurofloat experiment have been examined in conjunction with historical float data in order to calculate quasi-Eulerian means in an effort to separate and quantify the constituents of the spreading of the MW tongue east of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. While recent studies focussed chiefly on the role of meddies in the shaping of the MW tongue, this analysis also examines the tongue's second constituent, that is, the “background? (non-meddy advective and diffusive) flow. The results suggest the existence of two regimes approximately to the north and south of the 36°N parallel (i.e., the latitude of the Gulf of Cadiz), which are distinguished by different types of dominant spreading mechanisms for MW. To the south of the Gulf of Cadiz, the background flow shows an incoherent and weak mean, whereas the mean velocity of the salt enhanced meddies is strong and to the southwest. In contrast, to the north of 36°N the mean velocity of the meddies seems to be less pronounced and the background flow is shown to be a major component in the northwestward spreading of the MW tongue. The two regimes are separated by the Azores Current, which previously has been hypothesized to act as a dynamic barrier to the southward advective spreading of the background regime, which the meddies are able to penetrate because of their high kinetic energy. Overall, the meddies are calculated to contribute to approximately half of the total salinity anomaly flux.

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Published date: 2002
Keywords: woce, countryes, countryus, countrygr, countryde, countrygb, rafos floats, mediterranean sea, salinity, velocity, eulerian methods

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 5944
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/5944
ISSN: 0022-3670
PURE UUID: 0c1cda1e-09ca-4641-ba9d-b37b75bd2dcc

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Date deposited: 27 May 2004
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 04:46

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Contributors

Author: M. Sparrow
Author: O. Boebel
Author: V. Zervakis
Author: W. Zenk
Author: A. Cantos-Figuerola
Author: W.J. Gould

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