Variability and decadal evolution of temperature and salinity in the Mediterranean Sea surface

Year 2016, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 24 - 33, 01.10.2016

Lamri Nacef Nour El İslam Bachari Abderrahmane Bouda Riad Boubnia

https://doi.org/10.26833/ijeg.285222

Cited By: 10

Abstract

Based
on the Med-Atlas 20002 database data at Mediterranean Sea surface, analysis of
spatial and temporal variations of temperature and salinity, as well as, the
search of its possible trends are the main goals of this work. The used
statistical techniques allowed us to obtain various climatological fields of
temperature and salinity, on a period of 45 years (1955-1999). Spatial and
temporal analysis of those fields shows that the north-south gradient is weaker
than the east-west gradient. The strongest variability in both mean fields is
sharper in downwelling areas than anywhere else, showing the colder and less
saline surface waters. Warmer and saltiest water surface are located in
southeast of the Levantine basin. The eastern Mediterranean Sea is generally
more saline than the western basin. The temperature seasonal cycle is more
marked than the salinity seasonal cycle. The summer-winter thermal and saline
fields are completely contrasted, especially in the northern Adriatic Sea. The
largest positive peak of inter-annual temperature variability is encountered in
1994, the largest negative peak in 1992. Whereas those related to salinity
observed in 1983 and in 1997 respectively. The decadal variations indicate a
cooling of Mediterranean Sea surface in 1970s and a northward warming since
1980s that accelerated in 1990s. The eastern Mediterranean Sea exhibits a
higher warming rate as compared to the western basin, but the average increase
is about 0.2 °C/decade. The Salinity rising corresponds to the cooling periods
and the decreasing is associated with the warming ones.

Keywords

Mediterranean Sea surface, Temperature, Salinity, Spatio-temporal/Interannual/decadal variability

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