Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

An Explanation for the Curvature of the Atlantic Jet past the Strait of Gibraltar

An Explanation for the Curvature of the Atlantic Jet past the Strait of Gibraltar A consistent explanation for the anticyclonic curvature of the Atlantic jet as it passes through the Strait of Gibraltar and flows into the Mediterranean Sea (eastern side of the strait) is provided. The anticyclonic curvature of the Atlantic jet, which is the key feature to understand the upper-layer circulation in the western Alboran Sea, is simply related to the positive net evaporation over the Mediterranean. The result of this positive net evaporation, that mainly occurs in areas of the Mediterranean far from the Strait of Gibraltar, is a net inflow transport through the strait. It is proposed that the positive net evaporation is able to produce such a net inflow in the strait because of an anomalous large-scale pressure gradient. This anomalous pressure gradient is found to be approximately collinear to the strait orientation. The time-averaged inflow of Atlantic water at the eastern side of the Strait of Gibraltar must therefore be supergeostrophic, and hence it must have anticyclonic curvature. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Physical Oceanography American Meteorological Society

An Explanation for the Curvature of the Atlantic Jet past the Strait of Gibraltar

Viúúdez, ÁÁlvaro
Journal of Physical Oceanography , Volume 27 (8) – May 1, 1996
Download PDF
7 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/american-meteorological-society/an-explanation-for-the-curvature-of-the-atlantic-jet-past-the-strait-NtmLq4GY0m
Publisher
American Meteorological Society
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 American Meteorological Society
ISSN
1520-0485
DOI
10.1175/1520-0485(1997)027<1804:AEFTCO>2.0.CO;2
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

A consistent explanation for the anticyclonic curvature of the Atlantic jet as it passes through the Strait of Gibraltar and flows into the Mediterranean Sea (eastern side of the strait) is provided. The anticyclonic curvature of the Atlantic jet, which is the key feature to understand the upper-layer circulation in the western Alboran Sea, is simply related to the positive net evaporation over the Mediterranean. The result of this positive net evaporation, that mainly occurs in areas of the Mediterranean far from the Strait of Gibraltar, is a net inflow transport through the strait. It is proposed that the positive net evaporation is able to produce such a net inflow in the strait because of an anomalous large-scale pressure gradient. This anomalous pressure gradient is found to be approximately collinear to the strait orientation. The time-averaged inflow of Atlantic water at the eastern side of the Strait of Gibraltar must therefore be supergeostrophic, and hence it must have anticyclonic curvature.

Journal

Journal of Physical Oceanography – American Meteorological Society

Published: May 1, 1996

There are no references for this article.