Abrupt warming and salting of the Western Mediterranean Deep Water after 2005: Atmospheric forcings and lateral advection

Schröeder, Katrin; Josey, Simon A.; Herrmann, Marine; Grignon, L.; Gasparini, G.P.; Bryden, Harry L.

doi:10.1029/2009jc005749

Cited by 111 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…The CFC-12 and tritium section from the Tyrrhenian Sea through the western basin into the Alboran Sea show, that the western Mediterranean deep water (WMDW) is completely intruded by recently ventilated water masses coming from the extensive deep water formation during 2004) (Schroeder et al, 2008(Schroeder et al, , 2010. The CFC-12 18 T. Stöven, T. Tanhua: Vent.…”

Section: Western Mediterranean Seamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The observed massive dense water input from the Aegean Sea and Sea of Crete in the early 1990s is known as the Eastern Mediterranean Transient (EMT) event (Roether et al, 1996;Klein et al, 1999;Lascaratos et al, 1999). The extensive deep water formation in the western Mediterranean Sea (WMed) between 2004 and 2006, known as the Western Mediterranean Transition (WMT) event (Schroeder et al, 2008(Schroeder et al, , 2010, is thought to have been triggered by the EMT event . Nevertheless, both events are part of a general circulation pattern which can be observed in the Mediterranean Sea.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ventilation of the Mediterranean Sea constrained by multiple transient tracer measurements

Stöven

Tanhua

2014

Ocean Sci.

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Abstract. Ventilation is the primary pathway for atmosphere-ocean boundary perturbations, such as temperature anomalies, to be relayed to the ocean interior. It is also a conduit for gas exchange between the interface of atmosphere and ocean. Thus it is a mechanism whereby, for instance, the ocean interior is oxygenated and enriched in anthropogenic carbon. The ventilation of the Mediterranean Sea is fast in comparison to the world ocean and has large temporal variability. Here we present transient tracer data from a field campaign in April 2011 that sampled a unique suite of transient tracers (SF 6 , 3 H and 3 He) in all major basins of the Mediterranean. We apply the transit time distribution (TTD) model to the data in order to constrain the mean age, the ratio of the advective / diffusive transport and the number of water masses significant for ventilation.We found that the eastern part of the eastern Mediterranean can be reasonably described with a one-dimensional inverse Gaussian TTD (IG-TTD), and thus constrained with two independent tracers. The ventilation of the Ionian Sea and the western Mediterranean can only be constrained by a linear combination of IG-TTDs. We approximate the ventilation with a one-dimensional, two inverse Gaussian TTD (2IG-TTD) for these areas and demonstrate a possibility of constraining a 2IG-TTD from the available transient tracer data. The deep water in the Ionian Sea has a mean age between 120 and 160 years and is therefore substantially older than the mean age of the Levantine Basin deep water (60-80 years). These results are in contrast to those expected by the higher transient tracer concentrations in the Ionian Sea deep water. This is partly due to deep water of Adriatic origin having more diffusive properties in transport and formation (i.e., a high ratio of diffusion over advection), compared to the deep water of Aegean Sea origin that still dominates the deep Levantine Basin deep water after the Eastern Mediterranean Transient (EMT) in the early 1990s. The tracer minimum zone (TMZ) in the intermediate of the Levantine Basin is the oldest water mass with a mean age up to 290 years. We also show that the deep western Mediterranean has contributed approximately 40 % of recently ventilated deep water from the Western Mediterranean Transition (WMT) event of the mid-2000s. The deep water has higher transient tracer concentrations than the mid-depth water, but the mean age is similar with values between 180 and 220 years.

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Section: Western Mediterranean Seamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ventilation of the Mediterranean Sea constrained by multiple transient tracer measurements

Stöven

Tanhua

2014

Ocean Sci.

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“…(Béthoux et al, 2002). In that case, Mistral initiates vertical mixing till the surface mixed layer reaches the underlying saltier Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW), and upon buoyancy loss triggers deep convection (Schroeder et al, 2010). The heat and salt contents of the LIW together with wind strength are thus the main factors controlling deep convection in the Gulf of Lions (Schroeder et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene climate variability in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea (Gulf of Lions)

et al. 2016

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Abstract. Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and land-derived input time series were generated from the Gulf of Lions inner-shelf sediments (NW Mediterranean Sea) using alkenones and high-molecular-weight odd-carbon numbered n-alkanes (TERR-alkanes), respectively. The SST record depicts three main phases: a warm Early Holocene ( ∼ 18 ± 0.4 • C) followed by a cooling of ∼ 3 • C between 7000 and 1000 BP, and rapid warming from ∼ 1850 AD onwards. Several superimposed multi-decadal to centennialscale cold events of ∼ 1 • C amplitude were also identified. TERR-alkanes were quantified in the same sedimentary horizons to identify periods of high Rhone River discharge and compare them with regional flood reconstructions. Concentrations show a broad increase from the Early Holocene towards the present with a pronounced minimum around 2500 BP and large fluctuations during the Late Holocene. Comparison with Holocene flood activity reconstructions across the Alps region suggests that sediments of the inner shelf originate mainly from the Upper Rhone River catchment basin and that they are primarily delivered during positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO).

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“…This behaviour is difficult to explain. This could be related to the 2005-2006 deep convection events that caused an increase in salinity at those depths and were studied by Schroeder et al ( , 2008aSchroeder et al ( , 2010, , Font et al (2007) and Smith et al (2008). Another possible explanation is that the peak in EN3 may be due to lack of observations at that depth.…”

Section: Salinitymentioning

confidence: 98%

Multiparametric analysis and validation in the western Mediterranean of three global OGCM hindcasts

Vidal-Vijande¹,

Pascual²,

Barnier³

et al. 2012

Sci. Mar.

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SUMMARY:We analyse a hierarchy of three 1/4° global numerical simulations (ORCA-025.G70 (G70), ORCA-025. G85 (G85) and GLORYS1V1 (GLORYS)) by assessing their performance against observational data in the western Mediterranean. When compared with the EN3_v2a temperature and salinity database, the simulations are capable of reproducing surface layer temperature interannual variability but G70 is inaccurate with intermediate and deep-layer trends. This aspect is improved by the increased vertical resolution of G85 and by data assimilation in GLORYS. Salinity is the most problematic parameter because of the imbalance of the freshwater budget derived from inaccuracies in the atmospheric forcing parameters. Surface salinity restoring is needed in order to avoid salinity drift and inaccurate sea-level trends. G70, with a stronger relaxation, has a lower trend closer to altimetric measurements than G85. Mean surface circulation is well reproduced for relatively large-scale signals. We further show that G85 and GLORYS provide evidence of the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 deep convection events in the Gulf of Lion. Finally, transports through the main straits of the western Mediterranean are correct in order of magnitude, direction and seasonal cycle when compared with observations. This study contributes to the improvement of the ORCA hierarchy of simulations and points out the strengths and weaknesses of these simulations in the Mediterranean Sea.

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Abrupt warming and salting of the Western Mediterranean Deep Water after 2005: Atmospheric forcings and lateral advection

Abstract: [1] The recent major production of anomalously warm, salty deep water in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea (winters 2004Sea (winters -2005Sea (winters and 2005Sea (winters -2006) is linked to extreme winter air-sea heat and freshwater forcing of the basin.

Cited by 111 publications

References 39 publications

Ventilation of the Mediterranean Sea constrained by multiple transient tracer measurements

Ventilation of the Mediterranean Sea constrained by multiple transient tracer measurements

Holocene climate variability in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea (Gulf of Lions)

Multiparametric analysis and validation in the western Mediterranean of three global OGCM hindcasts

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