RT Journal Article
T1 Hotter and Weaker Mediterranean Outflow as a Response to Basin-Wide Alterations.
A1 García-Lafuente, Jesús
A1 Sammartino, Simone
A1 Huertas, Emma
A1 Flecha, Susana
A1 Sánchez-Leal, Ricardo
A1 Naranjo-Rosa, Cristina Belén
A1 Nadal, Irene
A1 Bellanco, María Jesús
K1 Corrientes marinas - Mediterráneo
K1 Mares y océanos - Temperatura
K1 Oceanografía - Observaciones
AB Time series collected from 2004 to 2020 at an oceanographic station located at thewesternmost sill of the Strait of Gibraltar to monitor the Mediterranean outflow into theNorth Atlantic have been used to give some insights on changes that have been takingplace in the Mediterranean basin. Velocity data indicate that the exchange through theStrait is submaximal (that is, greater values of the exchanged flows are possible) witha mean value of −0.847 ± 0.129 Sv and a slight trend to decrease in magnitude(+0.017 ± 0.003 Sv decade−1). Submaximal exchange promotes footprints in theMediterranean outflow with little or no-time delay with regards to changes occurring inthe basin. An astonishing warming trend of 0.339 ± 0.008◦C decade−1in the deepestlayer of the outflow from 2013 onwards stands out among these changes, a trend thatis an order of magnitude greater than any other reported so far in the water massesof the Mediterranean Sea. Biogeochemical (pH) data display a negative trend indicatinga gradual acidification of the outflow in the monitoring station. Data analysis suggeststhat these trends are compatible with a progressively larger participation of LevantineIntermediate Water (slightly warmer and characterized by a pH lower than that ofWestern Mediterranean Deep Water) in the outflow. Such interpretation is supportedby climatic data analysis that indicate diminished buoyancy fluxes to the atmosphereduring the seven last years of the analyzed series, which in turn would have reduced therate of formation of Western Mediterranean Deep Water. The flow through the Strait hasechoed this fact in a situation of submaximal exchange and, ultimately, reflects it in theshocking temperature trend recorded at the monitoring station
PB Frontiers
YR 2021
FD 2021-03-08
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10630/29828
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10630/29828
LA eng
NO García-Lafuente J, Sammartino S, Huertas IE, Flecha S, Sánchez-Leal RF, Naranjo C, Nadal I and Bellanco MJ (2021) Hotter and Weaker Mediterranean Outflow as a Response to Basin-Wide Alterations. Front. Mar. Sci. 8:613444. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.613444
NO CC BY
DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga
RD 19 ene 2026