Evolution of the Alboran Sea hydrographic structures during July 1993

Abstract

During the ICTIOALBORAN-0793 multidisciplinary oceanographic survey carried out in July 1993 by the Instituto Español de Oceanografı́a (IEO) in the Alboran Sea, some anomalous features were detected. One was the presence of a small cyclonic eddy in the western Alboran Basin, close to the African coast. The upper layer of the eddy consisted of Mediterranean Surface Water and was separated from its supposed source (the northern Alboran Sea) by the Atlantic Jet. Another feature was the probable temporary interruption of the flow of fresh Atlantic Water (S≈36.5) into the eastern Alboran Basin and its replacement by a modified (saltier) Atlantic Water. These features can be explained assuming a time evolution of the surface circulation in the Alboran Sea forced by speed variations in the inflowing Atlantic Water through the Strait of Gibraltar. A collection of satellite images covering the survey period and across-strait sea level difference data, indicative of the geostrophic velocity of the inflow through the Strait, were used to check this assumption. Both sets of data supplied independent but compatible information in the sense that they complemented each other and gave support to the proposed evolving model. Finally, some speculative ideas attempting to correlate the inferred variability in the Alboran Sea with the state of the baroclinic water exchange through the Strait of Gibraltar (maximal or submaximal) are discussed.