Mean fluxes across sections in the Mediterranean Sea derived from GCM results

Abstract

The Princeton OGCM is used to simulate the circulation in the Mediterranean Sea. A combination of prognostic and robust diagnostic techniques are applied to Levitus' (1982) data set in order to adjust the initial data to model physics and to restore to some extent the most general climatic features in salinity and temperature close to their climatic values. The simulated data are used to calculate water, salt and heat transport across sections in the Western Mediterranean Sea. Model estimates are compared with the estimates based on global water and salt budget analysis. It is shown that a strong correlation exists between vertical density anomaly and the baroclinic velocity when the two layer structure is well developed and in particular when the deep current direction is opposite to the direction of the surface current. For the Mediterranean Sea models, a formulation of open boundary conditions at the Straits is also discussed.