Surface circulation and upwelling in the Sardinia Sea: A numerical study

Olita, Antonio; Ribotti, Alberto; Fazioli, Leopoldo; Perilli, Angelo; Sorgente, Roberto

doi:10.1016/j.csr.2013.10.011

Cited by 63 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Puillat et al (2002) analysed a long dataset of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and 25 observed AEs with lifespan up to 3 years. Henceforth, several automated detection and tracking algorithms applied to altimetry data have been developed.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…It is important to underline that south-west of the Sardinian slope, close to the coast, we found less than 50 eddy centres. This area is characterised by upwelling phenomena (Olita et al, 2013) and by a quasi-permanent cyclonic circulation: the Southerly Sardinia Current (SSC) (Pinardi et al, 2013). The distribution of the averaged radii and amplitudes present a zonation similar to the above seen variables (not shown, while just EKE is shown in Figure 15).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Mesoscale Eddies in the Algerian Basin: do they differ as a function of their formation site?

Pessini¹,

Olita²,

Cotroneo³

et al. 2018

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Abstract. The circulation of the Western Mediterranean Sea (WMED) is dominated by highly variable and heterogeneous mesoscale circulation, strongly driven by the formation and propagation of eddies (cyclonic and anticyclonic) mainly acting in the Algerian Basin. Anticyclones are characterized by longer life, so potentially contributing to a large extent to the mesoscale characterization of the basin. Hereafter we will take into account only anticyclonic structures.In order to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of eddy generation and their respective paths in the Algerian Basin, We find that anticyclonic short-life eddies mostly occur in the northern portion of the domain, north of 39•

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Mesoscale Eddies in the Algerian Basin: do they differ as a function of their formation site?

Pessini¹,

Olita²,

Cotroneo³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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“…These AEs embed less saline water of Atlantic origin and circulate cyclonically within a gyre around the Algerian Basin with a mean speed of a few centimetres per second. They have lifetimes of up to 3 years (Puillat et al, 2002), often extending from the surface to about 350 m or deeper, and bring relatively fresh MAW from the Algerian coast to the Sardinian Sea (Millot, 1999;Testor and Gascard, 2005;Olita et al, 2013). Several AEs were observed in the Sardinian Sea between 7 • 24 E and 8 • E during the MedGOOS experiments in 2001 and 2002 Puillat et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several AEs were observed in the Sardinian Sea between 7 • 24 E and 8 • E during the MedGOOS experiments in 2001 and 2002 Puillat et al, 2006). Results of ocean general circulation models show that these eddies feed the Western Sardinian Current (WSC), a quasi-permanent southward flow at the surface west of Sardinia (Olita et al, 2013(Olita et al, , 2015Pinardi et al, 2015). At the southwest corner of Sardinia, the WSC is located closer to the coast and reaches its maximum intensity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An additional pathway of WIW directly connecting the formation area to the Algerian Basin is expected to be induced by frontal eddies associated with the North Balearic Front (Millot, 1999;Fuda et al, 2000). This North Balearic Front separates the Atlantic Water reservoir in the south from the saltier and denser waters in the north (Olita et al, 2013). The TML is observed in the Alboran Sea (Allen et al, 2008), the Algerian Basin (Benzohra and Millot, 1995), and the Sardinian Sea .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hydrography and circulation west of Sardinia in June 2014

Knoll¹,

Borrione

Fiekas³

et al. 2017

Ocean Sci.

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Abstract. In the frame of the REP14-MED sea trial in June 2014, the hydrography and circulation west of Sardinia, observed by means of gliders, shipborne CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) instruments, towed devices, and vesselmounted ADCPs (acoustic doppler current profilers), are presented and compared with previous knowledge. So far, the circulation is not well-known in this area, and the hydrography is subject to long-term changes. Potential temperature, salinity, and potential density ranges as well as core values of the observed water masses were determined. Modified Atlantic Water (MAW), with potential density anomalies below 28.72 kg m −3 , showed a salinity minimum of 37.93 at 50 dbar. Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW), with a salinity maximum of about 38.70 at 400 dbar, was observed within a range of 28.72<σ /(kg m −3 ) < 29.10. MAW and LIW showed slightly higher salinities than previous investigations. During the trial, LIW covered the whole area from the Sardinian shelf to 7 • 15 E. Only north of 40 • N was it tied to the continental slope. Within the MAW, a cold and saline anticyclonic eddy was observed in the southern trial area. The strongest variability in temperature and salinity appeared around this eddy, and in the southwestern part of the domain, where unusually low saline surface water entered the area towards the end of the experiment. An anticyclonic eddy of Winter Intermediate Water was recorded moving northward at 0.014 m s −1 . Geostrophic currents and water mass transports calculated across zonal and meridional transects showed a good agreement with vessel-mounted ADCP measurements. Within the MAW, northward currents were observed over the shelf and offshore, while a southward transport of about 1.5 Sv occurred over the slope. A net northward transport of 0.38 Sv across the southern transect decreased to zero in the north. Within the LIW, northward transports of 0.6 Sv across the southern transects were mainly observed offshore, and decreased to 0.3 Sv in the north where they were primarily located over the slope. This presentation of the REP14-MED observations helps to further understand the long-term evolution of hydrography and circulation in the Western Mediterranean, where considerable changes occurred after the Eastern Mediterranean Transient and the Western Mediterranean Transition.

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Spreading of Levantine Intermediate Waters by submesoscale coherent vortices in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea as observed with gliders

et al. 2015

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Since 2007, gliders have been regularly deployed in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea, a crucial region regarding the thermohaline circulation of the Mediterranean Sea. It revealed for the first time very warm (10.48C) and saline (10.1) submesoscale anticyclones at intermediate depth characterized by a small radius ($5 km), high Rossby ($0.3), and Burger ($0.7) numbers. They are likely order of 10 to be formed each year, have a life time order a year and certainly contribute significantly to the spreading of the Levantine Intermediate Waters (LIW) toward the whole subbasin, thus potentially impacting wintertime vertical mixing through hydrographical and dynamical preconditioning. They could be mainly formed by the combined action of turbulent mixing and flow detachment of the northward flow of LIW at the northwestern headland of Sardinia. Upwelling conditions along the western coast of Sardinia associated with a southward geostrophic flow within the upper layers seem to play a key role in their formation process.

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Surface circulation and upwelling in the Sardinia Sea: A numerical study

Cited by 63 publications

References 32 publications

Mesoscale Eddies in the Algerian Basin: do they differ as a function of their formation site?

Mesoscale Eddies in the Algerian Basin: do they differ as a function of their formation site?

Hydrography and circulation west of Sardinia in June 2014

Spreading of Levantine Intermediate Waters by submesoscale coherent vortices in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea as observed with gliders

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