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Signatures of the Mediterranean outflow from a North Atlantic climatology 2. Diagnostic velocity fields

Publication ,  Journal Article
Iorga, MC; Lozier, MS
Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
November 15, 1999

Part 1 of this study is a descriptive analysis of the spreading of Mediterranean Water based on high-resolution maps of salinity and density in the eastern basin. In this second part of our study, velocity fields for two representative isopycnal surfaces of the Mediterranean outflow (σ0.5 = 29.70 and σ0.5 = 29.90) are estimated from a diagnostic model that combines climatological hydrographic data from the National Oceanic Data Center with long-term direct measurements of water exchange through the Strait of Gibraltar. The model is constrained by geostrophic dynamics, conservation of mass, no-flux conditions at the continental shelf, and specified flow through the Strait of Gibraltar. Our principal data source is a recently assembled database of the North Atlantic that consists of climatological mean property fields averaged on isopycnal surfaces. The mean fields are based on more than 80 years (1909-1990) of data and have a nominal horizontal resolution of 0.5°. To provide boundary conditions at the Strait of Gibraltar, we use the results of a model developed from data collected during the Gibraltar Experiment in 1985. The estimated velocity fields show Mediterranean Water exiting the Strait of Gibraltar, following the southern Iberian coast, and then entering the Tagus Basin, where it turns anticyclonically to create a reservoir of this water mass. The flow continues northward along the eastern boundary, penetrating into the Rockall Channel. Finally, the model flow fields do not show a significant westward advection of Mediterranean waters into the subtropical gyre. Copyright 1999 by the American Geophysical Union.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans

DOI

EISSN

2169-9291

Publication Date

November 15, 1999

Volume

104

Issue

C11

Start / End Page

26011 / 26029

Related Subject Headings

  • 3709 Physical geography and environmental geoscience
  • 3708 Oceanography
  • 3706 Geophysics
  • 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience
  • 0405 Oceanography
  • 0404 Geophysics
 

Citation

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Iorga, M. C., & Lozier, M. S. (1999). Signatures of the Mediterranean outflow from a North Atlantic climatology 2. Diagnostic velocity fields. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 104(C11), 26011–26029. https://doi.org/10.1029/1999jc900204
Iorga, M. C., and M. S. Lozier. “Signatures of the Mediterranean outflow from a North Atlantic climatology 2. Diagnostic velocity fields.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 104, no. C11 (November 15, 1999): 26011–29. https://doi.org/10.1029/1999jc900204.
Iorga MC, Lozier MS. Signatures of the Mediterranean outflow from a North Atlantic climatology 2. Diagnostic velocity fields. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. 1999 Nov 15;104(C11):26011–29.
Iorga, M. C., and M. S. Lozier. “Signatures of the Mediterranean outflow from a North Atlantic climatology 2. Diagnostic velocity fields.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, vol. 104, no. C11, Nov. 1999, pp. 26011–29. Scopus, doi:10.1029/1999jc900204.
Iorga MC, Lozier MS. Signatures of the Mediterranean outflow from a North Atlantic climatology 2. Diagnostic velocity fields. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. 1999 Nov 15;104(C11):26011–26029.

Published In

Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans

DOI

EISSN

2169-9291

Publication Date

November 15, 1999

Volume

104

Issue

C11

Start / End Page

26011 / 26029

Related Subject Headings

  • 3709 Physical geography and environmental geoscience
  • 3708 Oceanography
  • 3706 Geophysics
  • 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience
  • 0405 Oceanography
  • 0404 Geophysics