The Mediterranean Sea system: a review and an introduction to the special issue

Tanhua, Toste; Hainbucher, Dagmar; Schröeder, Katrin; Cardín, Vanessa; Álvarez, Marta; Civitarese, Giuseppe

doi:10.5194/os-9-789-2013

Cited by 156 publications

(150 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…These structures might be related to sub-basinscale gyres, this assumption being supported by the range of the features and the changing appearance of positive and negative amplitudes. In the EMed the velocity feature is correlated with the Mersa-Matruh anticyclone (Tanhua et al, 2013b, this issue Fig. 2).…”

Section: Geostrophic and Mean Adcp Velocitiesmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Quasi-synoptic data like the ones presented here are rare and hence very valuable, although they refer to just one single section and cannot be used to elucidate threedimensional structures of circulation and hydrography. The distributions of salinity, temperature and density along the section occupied by the M84/3 cruise have been reported by Tanhua et al (2013b).…”

Section: Hainbucher Et Al: Hydrographic Situation During Cruise Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hydrographic situation during cruise M84/3 and P414 (spring 2011) in the Mediterranean Sea

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Aspects of hydrography and large-scale circulation observed in the Mediterranean Sea during the M84/3 and P414 cruises (April and June 2011, respectively) are presented. In contrast to most of the recent expeditions, which were limited to special areas of the basin, these two cruises, especially the M84/3, offered the opportunity of delineating a quasi-synoptic picture of the distribution of the relevant physical parameters along a section extending through the whole Mediterranean, from the Lebanese coast up to the Strait of Gibraltar. The foci of our analysis are the observed water mass properties and velocity fields. The first are investigated through T -S diagrams and an optimum multiparameter (OMP) analysis and the results are discussed also in the context of recently identified modes of variability; the second are studied by comparing the velocity fields observed using a vessel-mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler and those calculated from the observed density fields. Overall, a distribution of temperature, salinity and geostrophic velocities emerges, which is far from that observed before the beginning of the so-called "Eastern Mediterranean Transient", a major climatic shift in the hydrography and circulation of the Mediterranean Sea which began at the end of the 1980s. The picture which emerges helps to further address the complexity of long-term evolution of hydrography and large-scale circulation of the Mediterranean Sea.

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Section: Geostrophic and Mean Adcp Velocitiesmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Hainbucher Et Al: Hydrographic Situation During Cruise Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrographic situation during cruise M84/3 and P414 (spring 2011) in the Mediterranean Sea

et al. 2014

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“…Due to the paucity of float data for the period JuneNovember 2011, the float data set were merged with CTD profiles from the POS414 cruise (R/V Poseidon), carried out in June 2011 in the eastern Mediterranean (Tanhua et al, 2013). All profiles from that cruise were sampled using a CTD equipped with a SBE19plus sensor, with overall accuracies of ±0.002 • C, ±0.003 for T and S, respectively.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme winter 2012 in the Adriatic: an example of climatic effect on the BiOS rhythm

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Adriatic and Ionian seas are Mediterranean subbasins linked through the Bimodal Oscillating System mechanism responsible for decadal reversals of the Ionian basinwide circulation. Altimetric maps showed that the last cyclonic mode started in 2011 but unexpectedly in 2012 reversed to anticyclonic. We related this "premature" inversion to the extremely strong winter in 2012, which caused the formation of very dense Adriatic waters, flooding Ionian flanks in May and inverting the bottom pressure gradient. Using Lagrangian float measurements, the linear regression between the sea surface height and three isopycnal depths suggests that the southward deep-layer flow coincided with the surface northward geostrophic current and the anticyclonic circulation regime. Density variations at depth in the northwestern Ionian revealed the arrival of Adriatic dense waters in May and maximum density in September. Comparison between the sea level height in the northwestern Ionian and in the basin centre showed that in coincidence with the arrival of the newly formed Adriatic dense waters the sea level was lowered in the northwestern flank, inverting the surface pressure gradient. Toward the end of 2012, the density gradient between the basin flanks and its centre went to zero, coinciding with the weakening of the anticyclonic circulation and eventually with its return to the cyclonic pattern. Thus, the premature and transient reversal of Ionian surface circulation originated from the extremely harsh winter in the Adriatic, resulting in the formation and spreading of highly dense bottom waters. The present study highlights the remarkable sensitiveness of the Adriatic-Ionian BiOS to climatic forcing.

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“…A characterization of the upper 100 m environmental parameters is shown in Fig. 2; the profiles for the complete water column at a higher spatial horizontal resolution and a full description of the physicochemical setting are presented in Tanhua et al (2013b) and Álvarez et al (2014) in this Ocean Science special issue.…”

Section: Environmental Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is coccolithophore distribution in the Mediterranean Sea related to seawater carbonate chemistry?

Oviedo

Ziveri

Álvarez³

et al. 2015

Ocean Sci.

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Abstract. The Mediterranean Sea is considered a "hot spot" for climate change, being characterized by oligotrophic to ultra-oligotrophic waters and rapidly increasing seasurface temperature and changing carbonate chemistry. Coccolithophores are considered a dominant phytoplankton group in these waters. As marine calcifying organisms they are expected to respond to the ongoing changes in seawater carbonate chemistry. We provide here a description of the springtime coccolithophore distribution in the Mediterranean Sea and relate this to a broad set of in situ-measured environmental variables. Samples were taken during the R/V Meteor (M84/3) oceanographic cruise in April 2011, between 0 and 100 m water depth from 28 stations. Total diatom and silicoflagellate cell concentrations are also presented. Our results highlight the importance of seawater carbonate chemistry, especially [CO 2− 3 ] but also ] in unraveling the distribution of heterococcolithophores, the most abundant coccolithophore life phase. Holo-and heterococcolithophores respond differently to environmental factors. For instance, changes in heterococcolithophore assemblages were best linked to the combination of [CO 2− 3 ], pH, and salinity (ρ = 0.57), although salinity might be not functionally related to coccolithophore assemblage distribution. Holococcolithophores, on the other hand, showed higher abundances and species diversity in oligotrophic areas (best fit, ρ = 0.32 for nutrients), thriving in nutrient-depleted waters. Clustering of heterococcolithophores revealed three groups of species sharing more than 65 % similarities. These clusters could be assigned to the eastern and western basins and deeper layers (below 50 m), respectively. In addition, the species Gephyrocapsa oceanica, G. muellerae, and Emiliania huxleyi morphotype B/C are spatially distributed together and trace the influx of Atlantic waters into the Mediterranean Sea. The results of the present work emphasize the importance of considering holo-and heterococcolithophores separately when analyzing changes in species assemblages and diversity. Our findings suggest that coccolithophores are a main phytoplankton group in the entire Mediterranean Sea and can dominate over siliceous phytoplankton. They have life stages that are expected to respond differently to the variability in seawater carbonate chemistry and nutrient concentrations.

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The Mediterranean Sea system: a review and an introduction to the special issue

Cited by 156 publications

References 84 publications

Hydrographic situation during cruise M84/3 and P414 (spring 2011) in the Mediterranean Sea

Hydrographic situation during cruise M84/3 and P414 (spring 2011) in the Mediterranean Sea

Extreme winter 2012 in the Adriatic: an example of climatic effect on the BiOS rhythm

Is coccolithophore distribution in the Mediterranean Sea related to seawater carbonate chemistry?

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