Additional evidence of LIW entrainment across the Algerian subbasin by mesoscale eddies and not by a permanent westward flow

Abstract

The circulation of the Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) in the Algerian subbasin (western basin of the Mediterranean sea) has been much debated for more than fifteen years now. Together with the old circulation diagrams, several numerical models claim that a branch of LIW is permanently flowing westwards across the Algerian subbasin, i.e. directly from the Channel of Sardinia towards the Strait of Gibraltar. Only a few models support the fact that the unique continuous flow of LIW is structured as an alongslope counterclockwise vein, which is thus directed northwards off Sardinia in the Algerian subbasin, and hence support the diagram published by Millot in 1987 [Millot, C. (1987a) Circulation in the Western Mediterranean. Oceanologica Acta 10(2), 143–149]. According to this diagram, any little mixed LIW found in the central subbasin corresponds to fragments which have been pulled away from the vein and entrained there by mesoscale eddies originated from the Algerian Current. The ELISA experiment (1997–1998), as a follow-up of other ones conducted since about 15 years, was designed partly to validate the diagram. In addition to about 40 current meters set in place for one year, four main campaigns were conducted with a sampling strategy guided in real time by infrared satellite information. The data set we present clearly provides additional evidence that the little mixed LIW found in the central Algerian subbasin has been entrained there by the mesoscale eddies and not by a permanent westward flow.