Submitted to Ocean Modelling Corresponding Author:

• Main Authors: Ra Bozec, George R. Halliwell, Eric P. Chassignet, M. Susan Lozier, Alexandra Bozec
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Mediterranean outflow water variability; Outflow processes; Gulf of Cadiz; Boundary conditions; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.530.1387; http://coaps.fsu.edu/~abozec/Welcome_files/Article_final.pdf

2 Several questions remain unanswered about the role and importance of the Mediterranean Overflow Water (MOW) in the Atlantic Ocean. In this study, we investigate the variability of MOW and more specifically the extent to which MOW variability is driven by buoyancy forcing changes within the Mediterranean Sea and/or variability in the properties of the entrained waters. To answer this question, we use a 1/3 ° North Atlantic configuration of the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM). To allow for an accurate representation of the outflow properties, the Marginal Sea Boundary Condition developed by Price and Yang (1998) is implemented in HYCOM to parameterize the Mediterranean overflow. Sensitivity experiments in which T/S properties are fixed in the Atlantic and/or the Mediterranean are contrasted with a control experiment in which the overflow properties are free to adjust. We found not only that MOW is more sensitive to variations of entrained water properties than source water properties, but also that the strength of the entrainment based on the density difference between the source and entrained water is critical to understanding the variability of this water mass. Indeed, the entrainment controls the salt (heat) flux either by affecting the properties and/or the total transport of MOW, thereby the entrainment can partially influence the distribution of Mediterranean salt(heat) in the Atlantic.