Mediterranean sea level trends: atmospheric pressure and wind contribution

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Tsimplis, M.N., Alvarez-Fanjul, E., Gomis, D., Fenoglio-Marc, L., Perez, B.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2005
• Subjects: North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation
• Online Access: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/19172/; http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/gl0520/2005GL023867

The 9 longest tide-gauge records in the Mediterranean Sea are compared with the output of a barotropic model forced by atmospheric pressure and wind. Between 1958 and 2001 the tide-gauges indicate sea level trends of -0.4 to 0.7 mm/yr. During the same period the model shows sea level reduction of -0.4 to -0.7 mm/yr linked with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). After the removal of the meteorological influence from the sea level records the resulting trends are ~0.3 ± 0.4 mm/yr at the western Mediterranean and ~1.3 ± 0.4 mm/yr at the eastern Mediterranean. The eastern basin is strongly affected by rapid sea level rise in the period 1993–2001 with rates of 5–10 mm/yr which are probably related to the Eastern Mediterranean Transient (EMT).