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The American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, AMS has a membership of more than 14,000 professionals, ...
A water mass formed in a Mediterranean Sea. In the Atlantic Ocean the term refers to the water mass that enters from the Eurafrican Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar with a temperature of 13. 5°C and a salinity of 37. 8 psu and can be traced throughout the Atlantic as a salinity maximum of 36. 0–36. 2 psu near a depth of 1000 m and progressively deeper and fresher as the distance from the straits increases. See also Australasian Mediterranean Water, Persian Gulf Water, Red Sea Water.
Industry:Weather
A part of the World Ocean with little communication with the major ocean basins, in which the circulation is controlled by density differences. Two types of Mediterranean Seas are distinguished. In the arid type, evaporation exceeds precipitation, increasing the density of the Mediterranean Sea; this produces deep convection and an outflow of dense Mediterranean Water through the connection with the main ocean below an inflow of less dense oceanic water. Examples are the Eurafrican Mediterranean and the Red Sea. In the humid type, precipitation exceeds evaporation, lowering the density; this produces a two-layer structure and inflow of denser oceanic water below water of less dense Mediterranean Water. Examples are the Australasian Mediterranean (Indonesian Seas) and the Baltic Sea.
Industry:Weather
The relatively saline water that flows out of the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar in a subsurface layer just above the sill depth. The outflow consists mainly of Levantine Intermediate Water, which is formed in the extreme eastern basin of the Mediterranean. Once in the Atlantic, the relatively dense Mediterranean Water quickly sinks and spreads westward around a depth of 1000 m. The salinity anomaly of the Mediterranean Water can be detected several thousand kilometers west of the Strait of Gibraltar. See Mediterranean lenses, Gibraltar outflow water.
Industry:Weather
Coherent subsurface masses of anticyclonically rotating, warm salty water in the Atlantic Ocean originating from the Mediterranean Sea. These mesoscale lenses have been observed to persist for up to many months. See Meddy.
Industry:Weather
A front that forms in the low pressure zone that covers the Mediterranean between the cold air over Europe and the warm air over the Sahara.
Industry:Weather
A water mass that occupies the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea below a depth of 500 m. It is formed in winter by convection in the Ligurian Sea and the Balearic Basin when very cold Siberian air is channeled through Alpine valleys and descends in a burst known as mistral to cool the sea surface. See deep water.
Industry:Weather
Characterized by mild, wet winters and warm to hot, dry summers; typically occurs on the west side of continents between about 30° and 45° latitude.
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A period of warmer climate in much of northern Europe, the North Atlantic, southern Greenland, and Iceland from about the tenth to thirteenth centuries A. D. , coinciding roughly with Europe's Middle Ages. As the number of well-understood proxy records of climate covering this time period in many parts of the world has increased in recent years, it has become clear that it would be an oversimplification to view this period as uniformly warmer in all seasons, even within the relatively limited North Atlantic/northern Europe region, let alone on a global scale (Hughes and Diaz 1994).
Industry:Weather
A short form for Mediterranean Eddy. Meddies are salt lenses containing high amounts of original Gibraltar Outflow Water in their interior. With spatial scales smaller than the internal Rossby radius, they belong to the energetic class of submesoscale coherent vortices. They rotate clockwise (anticyclonically) like solid bodies and are encapsulated by strong contrasts (gradients) of water masses (properties) and a sharp vorticity front at their periphery. Meddies interact with partner vortices, depending on their geographical position and eddy population. Spontaneous Meddy release represents random salt sources within the Mediterranean salt tongue and questions a large-scale advection–diffusion salt balance in the North Atlantic. Typical Meddy scales and properties include diameters of ∼50–80 km, a vertical extent of ∼600–1400 m, a drift velocity of ∼2–3 cm s<sup>−1</sup> (with occasional stalls), a rotation velocity of ∼20–30 cm s<sup>−1</sup>, a rotation period of ∼4–10 days, a lifetime of months to two years, and a salinity core contrast of 0. 2–1 psu.
Industry:Weather
