Rossby waves driven by the Mid Mediterranean Jet impact the Eastern Mediterranean mesoscale dynamics.

ABSTRACT: The most prominent and persistent feature of the eastern Mediterranean Levantine Basin (LB) is the warm anticyclonic Cyprus Eddy (CE) located above the Eratosthenes Seamount (ESM). This eddy periodically couples with two smaller cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies, the South Shikmona Eddy (SSE) and North Shikmona Eddy (NSE), which form downstream. The reason for the zonal drift of the CE center and the formation mechanism of the CE, SSE and NSE is largely debated today, yet the upwelling and biological productivity of the LB can be strongly impacted by the local dynamics. Using a variety of research methods-theory, models, laboratory and field experiments-we demonstrate that the CE is an anticyclonic Taylor column generated by the eastward Mid Mediterranean Jet (MMJ) impinging over the ESM. W

SUBMITTER: Pirro A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11604977 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature