Large changes in the hydrographic structure of the Bay of Biscay after the extreme mixing of winter 2005

Somavilla, R.; González-Pola, César; Rodríguez, Carmen Dolores Arbelo; Josey, Simon A.; Sánchez, Ricardo; Lavín, A.

doi:10.1029/2008jc004974

Cited by 59 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 51 publications

(62 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Moreover, the period 2003-2005 was characterised by the prevalence of warm spring and summer seasons, with cold autumn and winter periods. Exceptional events such as those during the last decade , Somavilla et al 2009) are explained not only by air temperature fluctuations, but also by other meteorological and physical parameters such as irradiance, turbulence and upwelling events (Borja et al 2000, Goikoetxea et al 2009). …”

Section: Hydroclimatic Variability and Anomaly Patterns: Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change impacts on coastal and pelagic environments in the southeastern Bay of Biscay

Chust¹,

Borja²,

Caballero³

et al. 2011

Clim. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The impacts of global climate change on the Basque coast and the pelagic systems within the southeastern Bay of Biscay are reviewed. Climate projections under greenhouse gas emission scenarios indicate that this area will experience changes in climate throughout the 21st century, including warming of surface air (especially heat wave episodes), intensification of extreme daily rainfall (10%), warming of the upper 100 m of the ocean layer (1.5 to 2.05°C), and sea level rise (SLR; 29 to 49 cm). Observations made in the bay throughout the 20th century for air temperature and mean sea level are in agreement with these projections. Trends in ocean-climatic historical observations within the area, including sea temperature, precipitation, upwelling/downwelling, turbulence and wave climate, are also reviewed. The main impacts on the coast are expected to be from SLR, especially in low-lying areas (mostly urbanised) within estuaries. Sandy beaches are also expected to undergo significant mean shoreline retreats of between 25 and 40% of their width. As the sea level rises, the natural migration of saltmarshes and intertidal seagrasses landward will be constrained, in most cases, by existing anthropogenic fixed boundaries. Empirical relationships between the distribution and dynamics of the long-term biological measures (plankton, primary production, benthos, and fisheries) on the one hand, and ocean-climatic variability on the other, indicate that pelagic and coastal water ecosystems will be affected by ocean warming, increased stratification, shifts in anomaly patterns and streamflow regimes. The largest uncertainties are associated with the lack of downscaled projections within the bay on ocean circulation, ocean-meteorological indices, wave climate and ocean acidification.

show abstract

Section: Hydroclimatic Variability and Anomaly Patterns: Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change impacts on coastal and pelagic environments in the southeastern Bay of Biscay

Chust¹,

Borja²,

Caballero³

et al. 2011

Clim. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As an example, the extremely cold and dry winter of (Somavilla et al, 2009). The strong local cooling and the precipitation deficit resulted in the highest density flux estimated, which triggered the mixed layer to reach unprecedented depths, affecting directly the East North Atlantic Central Water (ENACW) that is usually unconnected to air-sea interaction.…”

Section: Hydrographic Monitoring Sectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

IEOOS: the Spanish Institute of Oceanography Observing System

Tel¹,

Balbín

Cabanas

et al. 2016

Ocean Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Since its foundation, 100 years ago, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) has been observing and measuring the ocean characteristics. Here is a summary of the initiatives of the IEO in the field of the operational oceanography. Some systems like the tide gauges network has been working for more than 70 years. The standard sections began at different moments depending on the local projects, and nowadays there are more than 180 coastal stations and deep-sea ones that are systematically sampled, obtaining physical and biochemical measurements. At this moment, the Observing System includes six permanent moorings equipped with current meters, an opensea ocean-meteorological buoy offshore Santander and a sea-surface temperature satellite image station. It also supports the Spanish contribution to the Argo international programme with 47 deployed profilers, and continuous monitoring thermosalinometers, meteorological stations and vesselmounted acoustic Doppler current profilers on the research vessel fleet. The system is completed with the contribution to the Northwest Iberian peninsula and Gibraltar observatories, and the development of regional prediction models. All these systematic measurements allow the IEO to give responses to ocean research activities, official agencies requirements and industrial and main society demands such as navigation, resource management, risks management, recreation, as well as for management development pollution-related economic activities or marine ecosystems. All these networks are linked to international initiatives, framed largely in supranational programmes of Earth observation sponsored by the United Nations or the European Union. The synchronic observation system permits a spatio-temporal description of some events, such as new deep water formation in the Mediterranean Sea and the injection of heat to intermediate waters in the Bay of Biscay after some colder northern storms in winter 2005.

show abstract

“…A detailed review of the modal, intermediate, and deep water masses of the midlatitude northeast Atlantic Ocean was performed by van Aken [2000avan Aken [ , 2000bvan Aken [ , 2001. Prieto et al [2013] provide a more specific description of the local water masses and circulation patterns for a study of seasonality based on the same data set described here.…”

Section: Regional Oceanography and Water Masses Of The North-west Ibementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The core of this water mass lies at 1900 dbar in the midlatitude Northeast Atlantic Ocean [Pingree, 1973;van Aken, 2000b]. Below LSW lies the Eastern North Atlantic Deep Water (ENADW, 2000-4000 dbar), and the Lower Deep Water (LDW) which is bottom water deeper than 4000 dbar [van Aken, 2000a]. van Aken [2000avan Aken [ , 2000bvan Aken [ , 2001) with corresponding along-section mean values of pressure, potential temperature, and practical salinity.…”

Section: Regional Oceanography and Water Masses Of The North-west Ibementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Below LSW lies the Eastern North Atlantic Deep Water (ENADW, 2000-4000 dbar), and the Lower Deep Water (LDW) which is bottom water deeper than 4000 dbar [van Aken, 2000a]. van Aken [2000avan Aken [ , 2000bvan Aken [ , 2001) with corresponding along-section mean values of pressure, potential temperature, and practical salinity. The diagrams of Figures 1c-1e provide a first overview of the year-to-year thermohaline variability in all depths of the water column.…”

Section: Regional Oceanography and Water Masses Of The North-west Ibementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Interannual variability of the northwestern Iberia deep ocean: Response to large‐scale North Atlantic forcing

et al. 2015

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The oceanic hydrography of the north-easternmost region of the North Atlantic subtropical gyre has been monitored since 2003 by three sections extending between 100 and 200 nautical miles from the Spanish NW and N coast into the Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay. The sections were occupied twice a year from 2003 to 2010, annually after that, and measure the whole water column (>5000 m). Correlation of series in the vertical and among sections, autocorrelation and estimates of the effect of the noise induced by the mesoscale field, all indicate that observed signatures are robust changes of water masses at the regional scale. The hydrographic time series are not characterized by smooth trends but instead by shifts that persist through consecutive cruises. The most notable features include a shift to more saline central waters around 2005 after which they remained stable, and a decrease in thermohaline properties of the Labrador Sea Water from autumn 2008 to 2010. Years with a strong winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index are characterized by shifts in thermohaline properties across most of the intermediate levels, with the most notable event being the warming and increasing salinity that followed the large NAO index drop of 2010. The observations are consistent with current understanding of the large-scale functioning of the North Atlantic, which predicts a northeastward expansion of subtropical temperate waters in the eastern boundary as a response to NAO forcing. The observed variability is discussed in relationship to large-scale circulation.

show abstract

Large changes in the hydrographic structure of the Bay of Biscay after the extreme mixing of winter 2005

Cited by 59 publications

References 51 publications

Climate change impacts on coastal and pelagic environments in the southeastern Bay of Biscay

Climate change impacts on coastal and pelagic environments in the southeastern Bay of Biscay

IEOOS: the Spanish Institute of Oceanography Observing System

Interannual variability of the northwestern Iberia deep ocean: Response to large‐scale North Atlantic forcing

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About