Abstract
Between 2013 and 2016 a drastic change in the vertical salinity structure in the South Adriatic Pit was recorded by Argo floats and ocean gliders. The analysis revealed that high salinity waters characterised 2013 at the surface and intermediate layers, creating the conditions for dense water formation. The year 2014 was instead marked by less saline water, dominant in the first 100 m, that spread in the entire Pit. Heat gain, negative E-P anomalies and abundant river runoff, during that period, maintained this saline stratification for more than a year. This water mass contributed to the dilution of the underlying layer, during the convection event of 2015. The spring transition period, later in 2015, as defined by new saline water placed over the winter formatted water mass and the unperturbed part of the existent salinity profile, in the deeper layers, resulted in a particular vertical structure, characterised by a double salinity maximum. High salinity waters continued to be present at the surface and intermediate layers until the end of 2016, when the strong convection led to a deep mixing, eliminating that structure. The analysis of the available datasets in the South Adriatic Pit, since 1984, linked the presence of these high salinity waters, with the cyclonic phase of the North Ionian Gyre, additionally revealing, also, years of a decreasing trend, during the anticyclonic mode of the Gyre.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 104625 |
| Journal | DEEP-SEA RESEARCH PART II-TOPICAL STUDIES IN OCEANOGRAPHY |
| Volume | 171 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2020 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-07-13Acknowledgements: We would like to thank Piero Zuppelli, Antonio Bussani, and Stefano Kuchler for their crucial help during all the glider experiments, without their help it would have been impossible any of these experiments. We would also like to acknowledge the Croatian authorities in particular Mirna Batistic and Nenad Jasprica for the important support they provided for the the glider mission permits. The OGS Italian National Oceanographic Data Centre/IOC data for providing the historical data. Stefano Querin from OGS and Alessandro Allodi from Regione Emilia Romagna ARPA - SIM Area Idrologia – PARMA are also acknowledged for providing us the Po River discharges data. This research was partially funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) as part of the Argo-Italy program, the Italian contribution to Argo programme.The float data were collected and made freely available under the International Argo Program in which the national program contributed (http://argo.jcommops.org http://argoitaly.inogs.it). The glider research was carried out with the contribution of RITMARE flagship Project, funded by MIUR under the NRP 2011–2013, approved by the CIPE Resolution 2/2011 of 23.03.2011. Finally, we are grateful to the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive input.