RT journal article
T1 Surface and Intermediate Water Changes Triggering the Future Collapse of Deep Water Formation in the North Western Mediterranean
A1 Parras Berrocal, Iván Manuel
A1 Vázquez Medina, Rubén
A1 Cabos, William
A1 Sein, Dmitry V.
A1 Álvarez Esteban, Óscar
A1 Bruno Mejías, Miguel
A1 Izquierdo González, Alfredo
A2 Física Aplicada
K1 deep convection
K1 north western Mediterranean
K1 deep water formation
K1 climate change
K1 climate coupled model
AB Deep water formation (DWF) in the North Western Mediterranean (NWMed) is a key feature of Mediterranean overturning circulation. DWF changes under global warming may have an impact on the Mediterranean biogeochemistry and marine ecosystem. Here we analyze the deep convection in the Gulf of Lions (GoL) in a changing climate using a regional climate system model with a horizontal resolution high enough to represent DWF. We find that under the RCP8.5 scenario the NWMed DWF collapses by 2040-2050, leading to a 92% shoaling in the winter mixed layer by the end of the century. The collapse is related to a strengthening of the vertical stratification in the GoL caused by changes in properties of Modified Atlantic Water and Levantine Intermediate Water, being their relative contribution to the increase of the stratification 57.8% and 42.2%, respectively. The stratification changes also alter the Mediterranean overturning circulation and the exchange with the Atlantic.
PB AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
SN 0094-8276
YR 2022
FD 2022-02
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/26973
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/26973
LA eng
NO I. M. Parras-Berrocal, O. Alvarez and M. Bruno were supported by the Spanish National Research Plan through project TRUCO (RTI2018-100865-BC22). W. Cabos have been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, through grant (CGL2017-89583-R). D. Sein was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia (0128-2021-0014). This work is part of the Med-CORDEX (www.medcordex.eu) initiative and HyMex program (www.hymex.org).
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 10-nov-2026