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Conference Paper

Recent changes in water mass properties in the Western Mediterranean

Authors

Chiggiato,  Jacopo
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Schroeder,  Katrin
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Bosse,  Anthony
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Coppola,  Laurent
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Balbin,  Rosa
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Piñeiro,  Safo
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Falcieri,  Francesco
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Belgacem,  Malek
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Borghini,  Mireno
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

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Citation

Chiggiato, J., Schroeder, K., Bosse, A., Coppola, L., Balbin, R., Piñeiro, S., Falcieri, F., Belgacem, M., Borghini, M. (2023): Recent changes in water mass properties in the Western Mediterranean, XXVIII General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) (Berlin 2023).
https://doi.org/10.57757/IUGG23-1770


Cite as: https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5017814
Abstract
The circulation in the Western Mediterranean Sea is an open thermohaline cell with three major water masses: the Atlantic Water (AW) entering at the surface the Strait of Gibraltar, the intermediate water (IW) of eastern Mediterranean origin entering from the Sicily Channel and the locally produced Western Mediterranean Deep Water (WMDW). All these water masses are nowadays undergoing significant changes in their properties. The Western Mediterranean Transition (WMT) generated warmer, saltier and denser deep water that eventually occupied large part of the deep layer, overflowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea and outside the Strait of Gibraltar. The IW entering from the Sicily Channel is routinely monitored and showed positive trends both in temperature and salinity as well. This progressive signal of warming and salinification has been detected also downstream in the North-Western Mediterranean. The lack of significant open ocean convection in the Gulf of Lion after 2013 prevented this signal to be substantially transferred to deep waters, with only limited diffusive mixing along the way to Gibraltar. Recent oceanographic campaigns in the Western Mediterranean within the umbrella of the Med-SHIP programme allow us (i) to evaluate the major differences in water mass properties in selected repeated CTD stations over time, (ii) to understand the final fate of the water masses generated during the WMT climatic event, (iii) to characterize at basin sub-level the IW properties during this period of increased θ – S values and reduced convection, possibly implying very high salinity Mediterranean Overflow Water to appear soon outside Gibraltar.