Two Years in the Life of a Mediterranean Salt Lens

Armi, Laurence; Hebert, Dave; Oakey, Neil S.; Price, James F.; Richardson, Philip L.; Rossby, H. Thomas; Ruddick, Barry

doi:10.1175/1520-0485(1989)019<0354:tyitlo>2.0.co;2

Cited by 275 publications

(179 citation statements)

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“…3b). Notably, anticyclonic mesoscale vortical features characterized by similar radial structures of their tangential velocities describing internal undular oceanic vortices have been recently discovered as robust solutions of the non-stationary, nonlinear shallow-water equations on an f-plane [23][24][25][26] and also demonstrated as being persistent features of both oceanic and laboratory flow fields 27,28 . Remarkably, they are all characterized by the presence of (quasi) inertial pulsations, as those observed here to be significantly enhanced during vortical activity (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abyssal undular vortices in the Eastern Mediterranean basin

et al. 2012

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Abyssal temperature and velocity observations performed within the framework of the neutrino mediterranean observatory, a project devoted to constructing a km 3 -scale underwater telescope for the detection of high-energy cosmic neutrinos, demonstrate cross-fertilization between subnuclear physics and experimental oceanography. Here we use data collected south of sicily in the Ionian abyssal plain of the Eastern mediterranean (Em) basin to show for the first time that abyssal vortices exist in the Em, at depths exceeding 2,500 m. The eddies consist of chains of near-inertially pulsating mesoscale cyclones/anticyclones. They are embedded in an abyssal current flowing towards north-northwest. The paucity of existing data does not allow for an unambiguous determination of the vortex origin. A local generation mechanism seems probable, but a remote genesis cannot be excluded a priori. The presence of such eddies adds further complexity to the discussion of structure and evolution of water masses in the Em.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abyssal undular vortices in the Eastern Mediterranean basin

et al. 2012

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“…We present a method to estimate the eddy radius R max and accompanying maximum azimuthal velocity V max , employing to the model used by H at un et al (2007). This model assumes the eddy is a vortex in solid body rotation, an observed characteristic for anticyclonic eddies in previous in situ studies (e.g., Newton et al 1974;Armi et al 1989;Pingree and Le Cann 1992;H at un et al 2007). Thus, the azimuthal velocity V grows linearly with the radial distance r as…”

Section: Anticyclones Observed At the Cis Mooringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observations of Irminger Sea Anticyclonic Eddies

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et al. 2013

Journal of Physical Oceanography

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“…Meddy). Meddy Sharon is a warm, salty lens of Mediterranean water that was observed in the eastern North Atlantic from 1984 to 1986 (Armi et al, 1989). During the period of observation, its heat, salt and velocity characteristics were gradually eroded away by lateral interleaving (Ruddick and Hebert, 1988;Hebert et al, 1990).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting the interleaving in two baroclinic ocean fronts

May

Kelley

2002

Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans

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To investigate the effects of baroclinicity on frontal interleaving, we contrast the interleaving characteristics of two fronts, one in the Arctic Ocean and the other surrounding a Mediterranean salt lens (Meddy). The Meddy is broken into two parts based on the vertical temperature and salinity structure, so our comparison involves three sets of interleaving observations. The cross-front slopes of intrusions relative to horizontal and isopycnal surfaces are taken to be key diagnostics of the interleaving dynamics. Assuming the observed slopes match those that were present during the initial growth of interleaving, we use an instability theory to infer the dominant form of double diffusion that was active during the growth stage. Then, to investigate the observed interleaving, we use a steady-state model to infer the dominant form of double diffusion at the time of observation. In the Arctic Ocean front, it appears that different forms of double diffusion dominated the two stages of interleaving (salt fingering during the growth stage and diffusive convection at steady state). In contrast, in the Meddy, the same form of double diffusion appears to have dominated both stages of interleaving (salt fingering in the lower part of the Meddy, diffusive convection in the upper part). In the Arctic Ocean front, the observations suggest that interleaving was driven by baroclinicity as well as double diffusion. In both parts of the Meddy, however, driving was by double diffusion only. Motivated by these differences, we suggest a new intrusion classification scheme, based on the slopes of intrusions relative to horizontal and isopycnal surfaces.

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Two Years in the Life of a Mediterranean Salt Lens

Cited by 275 publications

References 0 publications

Abyssal undular vortices in the Eastern Mediterranean basin

Abyssal undular vortices in the Eastern Mediterranean basin

Observations of Irminger Sea Anticyclonic Eddies

Contrasting the interleaving in two baroclinic ocean fronts

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