Simulation of the Mediterranean Sea circulation from 1979 to 1993: Part I. The interannual variability

The interannual variability of the Mediterranean (MED) circulation from 1979 to 1993 is studied with a 1°/8 × 1°/8 resolution OGCM. The surface forcing used is 6 hourly ECMWF (European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecast) reanalysis data. Two different periods in the surface forcing and model variability are identified during 1981-1993: the first, Period I (1981-1987) and the second, Period II (1988-1993). Changes in the model response between the two periods are driven by corresponding differences in the surface forcing, which presumably are a result of the decadal scale changes of the Northern Hemisphere (NH) atmospheric regimes, related to the intensification of North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) at the end of the 1980s. During the second period (1988-1993), the Mediterranean circulation reveals an overall weakening of the kinetic energy in the Western Mediterranean (WMED) basin and significant changes in the structure of circulation in the Eastern basin. In the latter region, the anticyclonic activity increases in the southern Ionian and in the southern area of the mid-Mediterranean Jet. These anticyclonic eddies, present during different years of Period II with variable intensity, have an important impact on the transport of Modified Atlantic Waters (MAW) and Levantine Intermediate Waters (LIW) in the Eastern Mediterranean (EMED). This change of the circulation modified the salinity and the amount of Levantine Intermediate Waters transported towards the Aegean Sea and the Adriatic Sea, which are important factors for deep water formation processes there. These model results are in good agreement with available observational results. The deep water formation event observed in the Aegean Sea [Science 271 (1996) 333] is produced by the model, but at a shallower depth. We interpret this event as the result of circulation changes between Period I and Period II and anomalous surface atmospheric forcing over the Aegean Sea. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.