Antarctic Intermediate Water influence on Mediterranean Sea Water outflow

• Published in: Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers
• Main Authors: Louarn, Essyllt, Morin, Pascal
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de Chimie Physique D'Orsay (LCPO), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), CHImie Marine (CHIM), Adaptation et diversité en milieu marin (AD2M), Station biologique de Roscoff Roscoff (SBR), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Station biologique de Roscoff Roscoff (SBR), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2011
• Subjects: Mediterranean Sea Water; Formation; Gulf of Cadiz; Antarctic Intermediate Waters; [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Antarctic; Antarc*; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01251678; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2011.05.009

International audience This study of the mixing of Mediterranean Sea Water (MW) with the surrounding waters was made possible by the Semane 2002 cruise (Sortie des Eaux Mediterraneennes dans l'Atlantique Nord-Est) that took place in the Gulf of Cadiz in July 2002. Potential temperature, salinity, oxygen, nutrients and CFC data are used to describe the water masses present in the Gulf. In the southern part of the basin, a water mass characterised by low oxygen, high nutrient and low CFC concentrations occurs along the African continental slope. This water has been identified as the modified Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW). It has been previously observed south of this section, at the latitude of the Canary Islands, as a northward flow between the African shelf and the islands. The modified AAIW found in the Gulf of Cadiz is situated at a density of 27.5 kg m(-3). Above, at 27.3 kg m(-3), the lower limb of the North Atlantic Central Water is observed as a salinity minimum. The modified AAIW enters the Gulf of Cadiz along the south-western part of the continental shelf. It flows cyclonically and exits north-westward. In the northern part of the gulf, due to the presence of the Mediterranean Undercurrent (MU), the AAIW flows off the coast. An optimum multiparameter analysis was conducted to evaluate the influence of the AAIW on the MW northwest of the basin. We show that the AAIW is present in the lower core of the MU at a proportion of 12.9 +/- 8.2% and is absent in the upper core. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.