Near-inertial motions in and around the Palamós submarine canyon (NW Mediterranean) generated by a severe storm

Abstract

During 9–16 November 2001 the western Mediterranean Sea was lashed by one of the most extreme storms of the last decades. Current meter data from seven moorings in the Palamós submarine canyon (northwestern Mediterranean) are analyzed to understand the vertical propagation of near-inertial energy generated by the storm. The daily inertial rotary components are examined for evidence of free and forced near-inertial oscillations. Free near-inertial motions are increased during the storm, although they are larger outside the canyon than inside. Conversely, forced near-inertial motions are relatively large inside the canyon but are almost negligible outside. Based on the results of a three-dimensional ocean circulation model, these differences are shown to be caused by the presence of a storm-generated alongshore front. The mechanisms by which near-inertial energy propagates are distinct at each side of the front. On the onshore side of the front (inside the canyon), free near-inertial motions are rapidly carried away by normal inertial waves, and wave reflection off canyon wall is responsible for the dissipation of free near-inertial motions and enhancement of forced near-inertial motions. On the offshore side of the front (outside the canyon), on the other hand, free near-inertial motions propagates first downward with anomalously low frequency internal waves and are then advected southward and offshore by the mean flow.