Spreading of the Western Mediterranean Deep Water after winter 2005: Time scales and deep cyclone transport

Beuvier, Jonathan; Béranger, Karine; Brossier, Cindy Lebeaupin; Somot, Samuel; Sevault, Florence; Drillet, Yann; Bourdallé‐Badie, Romain; Ferry, Nicolas; Lyard, Florent

doi:10.1029/2011jc007679

Cited by 104 publications

(212 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…For the period 1989-2001, data come from the SSH monthly seasonal cycle of the previous simulation with a time shift of 5 months in the seasonal cycle to follow the cycle of GLORYS-1 in the near Atlantic domain, there is thus no interannual variability before 2002. An exhaustive description of this methodology can be found in Beuvier et al (2012). GLORYS-1 anomalies in the Atlantic buffer zone (11 • W-7.5 • W) have an amplitude of about 14 cm, in agreement with AVISO products, which were assimilated in the GLORYS-1 reanalysis.…”

Section: Morce-med-variable Atlantic From Reanalysis Assimilating Altmentioning

confidence: 61%

Improving sea level simulation in Mediterranean regional climate models

et al. 2017

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long-term regional simulations of the Mediterranean Sea do not integrate the full sea level information from the Atlantic, which is a substantial shortcoming when analysing Mediterranean sea level response. In the present study we analyse different approaches followed by state-of-the-art regional climate models to simulate Mediterranean sea level variability. Additionally we present a new simulation which incorporates improved information of Atlantic sea level forcing at the lateral boundary. We evaluate the skills of the different simulations in the frame of long-term hindcast simulations spanning from 1980 to 2012 analysing sea level variability from seasonal to multidecadal scales. Results from the new simulation show a substantial improvement in the modelled Mediterranean sea level signal. This confirms that Mediterranean mean sea level is strongly influenced by the Atlantic conditions, and thus suggests that the quality of the information in the lateral boundary conditions (LBCs) is crucial for the good modelling of Mediterranean sea level. We also found that the regional differences inside the basin, that are induced by circulation changes, are model-dependent and thus not affected by the LBCs. Finally, we argue that a correct configuration of LBCs in the Atlantic should be used for future Mediterranean simulations, which cover hindcast period, but also for scenarios.

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Section: Morce-med-variable Atlantic From Reanalysis Assimilating Altmentioning

confidence: 61%

Improving sea level simulation in Mediterranean regional climate models

et al. 2017

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“…In the NW Mediterranean, numerical studies have pointed out the role of cyclonic eddies in the export of newly formed deep waters [Herrmann et al, 2008;Beuvier et al, 2012]. Herrmann et al [2008] found that about one-third of the newly formed deep waters is exported southward by such cyclonic structures.…”

Section: 1002/2016jc012144mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Herrmann et al [2008] found that about one-third of the newly formed deep waters is exported southward by such cyclonic structures. In those simulations, the cyclones are large mesoscale surface-intensified cyclones lacking realistic characteristics, certainly because of a too coarse model resolution: 3 km in Herrmann et al [2008] and 6-8 km in Beuvier et al [2012]. To correctly resolve 5 km radius SCVs, a horizontal resolution of 1 km as in Damien [2015] seems to be needed.…”

Section: 1002/2016jc012144mentioning

confidence: 99%

Scales and dynamics of Submesoscale Coherent Vortices formed by deep convection in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea

et al. 2016

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Since 2010, an intense effort in the collection of in situ observations has been carried out in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea thanks to gliders, profiling floats, regular cruises, and mooring lines. This integrated observing system enabled a year‐to‐year monitoring of the deep waters formation that occurred in the Gulf of Lions area during four consecutive winters (2010–2013). Vortical structures remnant of wintertime deep vertical mixing events were regularly sampled by the different observing platforms. These are Submesoscale Coherent Vortices (SCVs) characterized by a small radius (∼5–8 km), strong depth‐intensified orbital velocities (∼10–20 cm s−1) with often a weak surface signature, high Rossby (∼0.5) and Burger numbers O(0.5–1). Anticyclones transport convected waters resulting from intermediate (∼300 m) to deep (∼2000 m) vertical mixing. Cyclones are characterized by a 500–1000 m thick layer of weakly stratified deep waters (or bottom waters that cascaded from the shelf of the Gulf of Lions in 2012) extending down to the bottom of the ocean at ∼2500 m. The formation of cyclonic eddies seems to be favored by bottom‐reaching convection occurring during the study period or cascading events reaching the abyssal plain. We confirm the prominent role of anticyclonic SCVs and shed light on the important role of cyclonic SCVs in the spreading of a significant amount (∼30%) of the newly formed deep waters away from the winter mixing areas. Since they can survive until the following winter, they can potentially have a great impact on the mixed layer deepening through a local preconditioning effect.

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“…The model used in this work is a free surface ocean general circulation model NEMO (Madec and NEMO-Team., 2008) in a regional configuration called NEMO-MED12 (Beuvier et al, 2012a). NEMO-MED12 covers the whole Mediterranean Sea and also extends into the Atlantic Ocean to 11 • W (buffer zone).…”

Section: Description Of the Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Simulated 3 H-3 He concentrations in the water column are compared with observations from R/V Meteor cruises: M5/6-1987M5/6- , M31/1-1995M5/6- , M44/4-1999M5/6- , M51/2-2001M5/6- , M84/3-2011M5/6- , and Poseidon 232-1997. These data allow us to critically examine the dynamics of the NEMO-MED12 ocean model (Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean, in a regional configuration for the Mediterranean Sea called MED12) (Lebeaupin Brossier et al, 2011;Beuvier et al, 2012a;Palmiéri et al, 2015) and to evaluate the ability of this model to reproduce the main features of the circulation and mixing of the Mediterranean Sea water masses and their interannual variability, including the exceptional events observed in the ventilation of the deep waters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling of the anthropogenic tritium transient and its decay product helium-3 in the Mediterranean Sea using a high-resolution regional model

et al. 2015

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Abstract. This numerical study provides the first simulation of the anthropogenic tritium invasion and its decay product helium-3 ( 3 He) in the Mediterranean Sea. The simulation covers the entire tritium ( 3 H) transient generated by the atmospheric nuclear weapons tests performed in the 1950s and early 1960s and is run till 2011. Tritium, helium-3 and their derived age estimates are particularly suitable for studying intermediate and deep-water ventilation and spreading of water masses at intermediate/deep levels. The simulation is made using a high-resolution regional model NEMO (Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean), in a regional configuration for the Mediterranean Sea called MED12, forced at the surface with prescribed tritium evolution derived from observations. The simulation is compared to measurements of tritium and helium-3 performed along large-scale transects in the Mediterranean Sea during the last few decades on cruises of R/V Meteor: M5/6, M31/1, M44/4, M51/2, M84/3, and R/V Poseidon: 234. The results show that the input function used for the tritium generates a realistic distribution of the main hydrographic features of the Mediterranean Sea circulation. In the eastern basin, the results highlight the weak formation of Adriatic Deep Water in the model, which explains its weak contribution to the Eastern Mediterranean Deep Water (EMDW) in the Ionian sub-basin. It produces a realistic representation of the Eastern Mediterranean Transient (EMT) signal, simulating a deep-water formation in the Aegean subbasin at the beginning of 1993, with a realistic timing of deep-water renewal in the eastern basin.

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Spreading of the Western Mediterranean Deep Water after winter 2005: Time scales and deep cyclone transport

Cited by 104 publications

References 75 publications

Improving sea level simulation in Mediterranean regional climate models

Improving sea level simulation in Mediterranean regional climate models

Scales and dynamics of Submesoscale Coherent Vortices formed by deep convection in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea

Modelling of the anthropogenic tritium transient and its decay product helium-3 in the Mediterranean Sea using a high-resolution regional model

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