Intermediate Water Formation in the Levantine Sea: The Response to Interannual Variability of Atmospheric Forcing

Abstract

The Levantine Intermediate Water is the characteristic water mass that occupies the intermediate layers (200-400) of the Mediterranean sea. It is characterized by high salinity and temperature and it is known to be formed in the eastern most part of the Mediterranean sea, the Levantine basin. From this area it starts spreading to the rest of the basin, passing through the straits of Sicily to the western Mediterranean and finally through the strait of Gibraltar to the Atlantic Ocean. Its high salinity is a major preconditioning factor for the formation deep water in the southern Adriatic (source of Eastern Mediterranean Deep Water) and the Gulf of Lions (source of Western Mediterranean Deep Water).