Water Mass Transformation in a Secluded Bay of the Mediterranean Sea

• This case study demonstrates how water transformation in a secluded bay can be investigated using a range of Lagrangian analysis methods that can be calculated with a mass-conserving Lagrangian trajectory model. The study focuses on analysing the water mass transformation and overturning circulation in the Gulf of Gabès. The gradual transformation of water masses flowing through the Gulf was analysed using model-simulated Lagrangian trajectories. It was found that the overturning circulation in the Gulf gradually deepens, although it is falsely exaggerated by up to 50 metres when computed as a simple longitude-depth Lagrangian stream function.The Lagrangian method enabled the determination of the spatial dependence of transit time. The analysis revealed that most of the water in the Gulf has a transit time short enough to adjust to seasonal variability. However, in the innermost part of the Gulf, there exists an anticyclonic vortex that tends to trap water on longer timescales, preventing it from adjusting to seasonal variability. The trajectories were computed using velocity and mass transport fields from a high-resolution (1/96°) hydrodynamic ROMS model, which includes the relatively strong tides in this region of the Mediterranean.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Oceanografi, hydrologi och vattenresurser (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Oceanography, Hydrology and Water Resources (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Water Mass Transformation

overturning circulation in a bay

The Gulf of Gabes

The Mediterranenan Sea

Coastal downwelling

Lagrangian analysis

age

residence and transit times

Salinification

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)