Paleoceanography of the Atlantic-Mediterranean exchange: overview and first quantitative assessment of climatic forcing
The Mediterranean Sea provides a major route for heat and freshwater loss from the North Atlantic and thus is an important cause of the high density of Atlantic waters. In addition to the traditional view that loss of fresh water via the Mediterranean enhances the general salinity of the North Atlan...
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:10670/1.xpnlik 2023-05-15T17:30:08+02:00 Paleoceanography of the Atlantic-Mediterranean exchange: overview and first quantitative assessment of climatic forcing Rogerson, M. Rohling, E. J. Bigg, G. R. Ramirez, J. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011RG000376 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00265/37655/36910.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00265/37655/36911.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00265/37655/ en eng Amer Geophysical Union doi:10.1029/2011RG000376 10670/1.xpnlik https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00265/37655/36910.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00265/37655/36911.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00265/37655/ Archimer, archive institutionnelle de l'Ifremer Reviews Of Geophysics (8755-1209) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2012-05 , Vol. 50 , N. 2011RG0003 , P. 1-32 envir hist Text https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_18cf/ fttriple https://doi.org/10.1029/2011RG000376 2023-01-22T17:34:55Z The Mediterranean Sea provides a major route for heat and freshwater loss from the North Atlantic and thus is an important cause of the high density of Atlantic waters. In addition to the traditional view that loss of fresh water via the Mediterranean enhances the general salinity of the North Atlantic, and the interior of the eastern North Atlantic in particular, it should be noted that Mediterranean water outflowing at Gibraltar is in fact cooler than compensating inflowing water. The consequence is that the Mediterranean is also a region of heat loss from the Atlantic and contributes to its large-scale cooling. Uniquely, this system can be understood physically via the constraints placed on it by a single hydraulic structure: the Gibraltar exchange. Here we review the existing knowledge about the physical structure of the Gibraltar exchange today and the evidential basis for arguments that it has been different in the past. Using a series of quantitative experiments, we then test prevailing concepts regarding the potential causes of these past changes. We find that (1) changes in the vertical position of the plume of Mediterranean water in the Atlantic are controlled by the vertical density structure of the Atlantic; (2) a prominent Early Holocene "contourite gap" within the Gulf of Cadiz is a response to reduced buoyancy loss in the eastern Mediterranean during the time of "sapropel 1" deposition; (3) changes in buoyancy loss from the Mediterranean during MIS3 caused changes in the bottom velocity field in the Gulf of Cadiz, but we note that the likely cause is reduced freshwater loss and not enhanced heat loss; and (4) strong exchange at Gibraltar during Atlantic freshening phases implies that the Gibraltar exchange provides a strong negative feedback to reduced Atlantic meridional overturning. Given the very counterintuitive way in which the Strait of Gibraltar system behaves, we recommend that without quantitative supporting work, qualitative interpretations of how the system has responded to past ... Text North Atlantic Unknown Reviews of Geophysics 50 2 |
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envir hist Rogerson, M. Rohling, E. J. Bigg, G. R. Ramirez, J. Paleoceanography of the Atlantic-Mediterranean exchange: overview and first quantitative assessment of climatic forcing |
topic_facet |
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description |
The Mediterranean Sea provides a major route for heat and freshwater loss from the North Atlantic and thus is an important cause of the high density of Atlantic waters. In addition to the traditional view that loss of fresh water via the Mediterranean enhances the general salinity of the North Atlantic, and the interior of the eastern North Atlantic in particular, it should be noted that Mediterranean water outflowing at Gibraltar is in fact cooler than compensating inflowing water. The consequence is that the Mediterranean is also a region of heat loss from the Atlantic and contributes to its large-scale cooling. Uniquely, this system can be understood physically via the constraints placed on it by a single hydraulic structure: the Gibraltar exchange. Here we review the existing knowledge about the physical structure of the Gibraltar exchange today and the evidential basis for arguments that it has been different in the past. Using a series of quantitative experiments, we then test prevailing concepts regarding the potential causes of these past changes. We find that (1) changes in the vertical position of the plume of Mediterranean water in the Atlantic are controlled by the vertical density structure of the Atlantic; (2) a prominent Early Holocene "contourite gap" within the Gulf of Cadiz is a response to reduced buoyancy loss in the eastern Mediterranean during the time of "sapropel 1" deposition; (3) changes in buoyancy loss from the Mediterranean during MIS3 caused changes in the bottom velocity field in the Gulf of Cadiz, but we note that the likely cause is reduced freshwater loss and not enhanced heat loss; and (4) strong exchange at Gibraltar during Atlantic freshening phases implies that the Gibraltar exchange provides a strong negative feedback to reduced Atlantic meridional overturning. Given the very counterintuitive way in which the Strait of Gibraltar system behaves, we recommend that without quantitative supporting work, qualitative interpretations of how the system has responded to past ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Rogerson, M. Rohling, E. J. Bigg, G. R. Ramirez, J. |
author_facet |
Rogerson, M. Rohling, E. J. Bigg, G. R. Ramirez, J. |
author_sort |
Rogerson, M. |
title |
Paleoceanography of the Atlantic-Mediterranean exchange: overview and first quantitative assessment of climatic forcing |
title_short |
Paleoceanography of the Atlantic-Mediterranean exchange: overview and first quantitative assessment of climatic forcing |
title_full |
Paleoceanography of the Atlantic-Mediterranean exchange: overview and first quantitative assessment of climatic forcing |
title_fullStr |
Paleoceanography of the Atlantic-Mediterranean exchange: overview and first quantitative assessment of climatic forcing |
title_full_unstemmed |
Paleoceanography of the Atlantic-Mediterranean exchange: overview and first quantitative assessment of climatic forcing |
title_sort |
paleoceanography of the atlantic-mediterranean exchange: overview and first quantitative assessment of climatic forcing |
publisher |
Amer Geophysical Union |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2011RG000376 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00265/37655/36910.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00265/37655/36911.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00265/37655/ |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Archimer, archive institutionnelle de l'Ifremer Reviews Of Geophysics (8755-1209) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2012-05 , Vol. 50 , N. 2011RG0003 , P. 1-32 |
op_relation |
doi:10.1029/2011RG000376 10670/1.xpnlik https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00265/37655/36910.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00265/37655/36911.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00265/37655/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2011RG000376 |
container_title |
Reviews of Geophysics |
container_volume |
50 |
container_issue |
2 |
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1766125949781278720 |