Interaction of Mediterranean Water lenses with Antarctic Intermediate Water off Northwest Africa

Mediterranean Water lenses (meddies) in the eastern North Atlantic, north of the Canary Islands, appear to often have their salty and nutrient-poor core accompanied by relatively fresh and nutrient-rich waters on top. We describe several occurrences of freshwater halos and berets for meddies sampled...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientia Marina
Main Authors: Francisco José Electronica Machín, Josep L. Pelegrí
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas 2016
Subjects:
meddies
antarctic intermediate water
eastern north atlantic
Aquaculture. Fisheries. Angling
SH1-691
Antarctic
Antarc*
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3989/scimar.04289.06A
https://doaj.org/article/92c2959f84864772a2dd4a74d9507560
Description
Summary:Mediterranean Water lenses (meddies) in the eastern North Atlantic, north of the Canary Islands, appear to often have their salty and nutrient-poor core accompanied by relatively fresh and nutrient-rich waters on top. We describe several occurrences of freshwater halos and berets for meddies sampled north of the Canary Islands—with instrumented moorings, Argo floats and oceanographic cruises—and identify the source of these fresh anomalies as diluted Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW). We propose that this capping takes place off Northwest Africa, as the southward-advected meddy interacts with the northward-advected AAIW. This interpretation is consistent with a simple analysis of the relevant advective-diffusive time scales associated with the passage of meddies under a layer of AAIW, and suggests that meddies may be a mechanism for AAIW export far into the North Atlantic Ocean.

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