Characterization of the Atlantic Water and Levantine Intermediate Water in the Mediterranean Sea using 20 years of Argo data
<p>Atlantic Water (AW) and Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) are important water masses that play a crucial role in the internal variability of the Mediterranean thermohaline circulation. To be more specific, their variability and interaction, along with other water masses that characterize t...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Ocean Science |
| Online Access: | https://os.copernicus.org/articles/18/129/2022/os-18-129-2022.pdf |
| Summary: | <p>Atlantic Water (AW) and Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) are important
water masses that play a crucial role in the internal variability of the
Mediterranean thermohaline circulation. To be more specific, their variability and
interaction, along with other water masses that characterize the
Mediterranean basin, such as the Western Mediterranean Deep Water (WMDW),
contribute to modify the Mediterranean Outflow through the Strait of Gibraltar,
and hence they may influence the stability of the global thermohaline
circulation.</p>
<p>This work aims to characterize AW and LIW in the Mediterranean Sea,
taking advantage of the large observational dataset (freely available on
<span class="uri">https://argo.ucsd.edu</span>, <span class="uri">https://www.ocean-ops.org</span>, last access: 17 January 2022; Wong et al., 2020) provided by Argo floats
from 2001 to 2019. AW and LIW were
identified using different diagnostic methods, highlighting the inter-basin variability and the strong zonal
gradient that both denote the two water masses in this marginal sea. Their
temporal variability was also investigated over the last 2 decades,
providing a more robust view of AW and LIW characteristics, which have only been investigated using
very short periods in
previous studies due to a lack of data.</p>
<p>A clear salinification and warming trend characterize AW and LIW over the
last 2 decades (<span class="inline-formula">∼</span> 0.007 <span class="inline-formula">±</span> 0.140 and 0.006 <span class="inline-formula">±</span> 0.038 yr<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span>; 0.026 <span class="inline-formula">±</span> 0.715 and 0.022 <span class="inline-formula">±</span> 0.232 <span class="inline-formula"><sup>∘</sup></span>C yr<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span>,
respectively). The salinity and temperature trends found at sub-basin scale
are in good agreement with previous results. The strongest trends are found
in the Adriatic basin in the properties of both AW and LIW.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 1812-0784 1812-0792 |