https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-025-01993-2
Review
Contribution of Mediterranean Water to the formation of North Atlantic Deep Water
1
Shishov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
2
Instituto Pluridisciplinar, Madrid, Spain
3
STEAM, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Received:
3
September
2025
Accepted:
24
September
2025
Published online:
30
October
2025
This is a review work, in which we consider components of North Atlantic Deep Water, which is formed from several sources: Denmark Strait overflow, Faroe-Shetland overflow, convection in the Labrador and Irminger seas, and deep outflow of Mediterranean Water from the Mediterranean Sea. Special attention is focused on the bottom flow from the Mediterranean Sea. When Mediterranean Water descends to the deep ocean, lenses are formed of high salinity and warmer temperature than the surrounding waters. They occupy a depth range within 900–1300 m and form a tongue of Mediterranean Water of higher salinity in the Atlantic Ocean. This layer is the upper component of North Atlantic Deep Water that occupies the whole width of the ocean while propagating to the south initiating the Global Conveyor Belt. The descending flow of Mediterranean Water from the Strait of Gibraltar is supercritical in the sense that the Froude number exceeds unity. The current is under hydraulic control, which means that the velocity of the flow exceeds the speed of internal waves.
The paper is dedicated to the memory of Professor Etienne Guyon.
Copyright comment Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
