Dense-water generation episodes in the northern Adriatic

Abstract

The generation of North Adriatic Dense Water (NAdDW) has been documented in the paper, by analysing three generation episodes occurred in winters of 1981, 1987 and 1989. Temperature, salinity and density collected at the Po Delta - Rovinj transect before, during and after NAdDW generation were analysed and discussed. Furthermore, monthly surface heat, water and buoyancy fluxes were computed for the respective time intervals, coupled with Po River discharge rates. The decrease in Po River runoff in the preceding 4 months is common characteristics for all of three NAdDW generation episodes. Nevertheless, NAdDW generated in winter of 1989 was the result of extremely lowered water fluxes that preceded to the generation, producing extremely saline dense water. In contrary, winters of 1981 and 1987 were characterized by extensive heat losses in January/February therefore resulting in very cold NAdDW. NAdDW density in all of the cases surpassed 29.7, being enough dense to influence wider area and bottom layers of the whole Adriatic, changing a lot its physical and chemical properties.