Description: The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation represents the strongest mechanism for oceanic northward heat transport. This is accomplished by moving warm water northward in the upper ocean compensated by a deep return flow of cold and dense North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). Labrador Sea Water (LSW) constitutes the shallowest component of NADW. Since LSW is also supposed to be the most sensitive NADW component to climate change it is of particular interest. LSW is formed by deep convection not only in the centre of the Labrador Sea but also near its western boundary. Recent studies have suggested that LSW formed in the boundary region enters its export route from the Labrador Sea, the Deep Western Boundary Current, faster than LSW originating from the central Labrador Sea. In this study the spatial and temporal evolution of the export of newly formed LSW is investigated. For this purpose hydrographic mooring data from an array located at the western bounndary at 53°N starting in the late 1990s until 2014 and data from the Argo float network is used. The averaged seasonal salinity cycle at the array, particularly at the moorings further onshore, shows a pronounced freshwater signal in May indicating the arrival of newly formed LSW in the boundary current. In order to learn more about its preceding pathway and the corresponding export timescale the mooring data is complemented by data from Argo floats. Besides the annual cycles of LSW formation and export, their interannual variations are important aspects affecting the large-scale circulation. For instance, in years of relatively strong convection, as in 2008 and 2012, LSW is observed to pass the boundary current array at 53°N earlier, i.e. in February and March, respectively, than in years with weak convection, as in 2007 or 2010. Besides seasonal variations in the boundary current, a possible explanation for the earlier freshwater signal in years of enhanced convection might be a shift in convection sites southwards and/ or towards the boundary.

Description: CTD measurements carried out in the southern Adriatic Sea and in the western Ionian basin (Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea) during May 2003 by the German research vessel Poseidon (Poseidon cruise 298) and numerical simulations are used to elucidate aspects of the abyssal circulation of this oceanic region. The observations reveal that dense waters of Adriatic origin were strongly diluted along their way on the Italian continental slope, whilst their characteristics remained better preserved in a region located further east. Numerical simulations carried out by means of a nonlinear, reduced-gravity plume model confirm the observations and contribute to explain their cause: The very steep topographic slope along the Italian shelf in the region of the Gulf of Taranto induces strong entrainment of intermediate waters in the bottom layers. Instead, the bottom waters of Adriatic origin which, along their path further east, encounter gentler topographic variations, are weakly diluted by turbulent mixing and, therefore, better preserve their original characteristics. The remarkable differences in the simulated turbulent mixing along these two different paths are accentuated by the presence of a noticeable zonal gradient of potential density existing in the near-bottom layers of the northern Ionian basin.

Description: Owing to its nearly enclosed nature, the Tyrrhenian Sea at first sight is expected to have a small impact on the distribution and characteristics of water masses in the other basins of the western Mediterranean, The first evidence that the Tyrrhenian Sea might, in fact, play an important role in the deep and intermediate water circulation of the entire western Mediterranean was put forward by Hopkins [1988]. There, an outflow of water from the Tyrrhenian Sea into the Algero Provencal Basin was postulated in the depth range 700-1000 m, to compensate for an observed inflow of deeper water into the Tyrrhenian Sea. However, this outflow, the Tyrrhenian Deep Water (TDW), was undetectable since it would have hydrographic characteristics that could also be produced within the Algero-Provencal Basin. A new data set of hydrographic, tracer, lowered Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (LADCP), and deep float observations presented here allows us now to identify and track the TDW in the Algero-Provencal Basin and to demonstrate the presence and huge extent of this water mass throughout the western Mediterranean. It extends from 600 m to 1600-1900 m depth and thus occupies much of the deep water regime. The outflow from the Tyrrhenian is estimated to be of the order of 0.4 Sv (Sv=10(6) m(3) s(-1)), based on the tracer balances. This transport has the same order of magnitude as the deep water formation rate in the Gulf of Lions. The Tyrrhenian Sea effectively removes convectively generated deep water (Western Mediterranean Deep Water (WMDW)) from the Algero-Provencal Basin, mixes it with Levantine Intermediate water (LIW) above, and reinjects the product into the Algero-Provencal Basin at a level between the WMDW and LIW, thus smoothing the temperature and salinity gradients between these water masses. The tracer characteristics of the TDW and the lowered ADCP and deep float observations document the expected but weak cyclonic circulation and larger flows in a vigorous eddy regime in the basin interior

Description: Findings from experiments showed that the web-feeding euthecosomatous pteropod, Limacina retroversa, can produce rapidly sinking, mucous aggregates. It is suggested that, by adhesion, these aggregates scavenged picoplankton-sized particles, which were thus effectively cleared from the medium. In contrast, Calanus finmarchicusw as not able to clear these particles in our experiments. Sedimentation velocities of 10 aggregates measured in vivo were up to 1000 m day1, with an average of —300 m day-1 (not including two aggegates with neutral buoyancy). Mean velocities measured for feces of C.finmarchicus, Calanus hyperboreus and Thysanoessa sp. were considerably lower. We suggest that the sedimentation of L.retroversa aggregates was the source of mucous floes collected in sediment traps (Bathmann et al., Deep-Sea Res., 38,1341-1360,1991) and at the sea floor at 1200 m depth in the southern Norwegian Sea. This process may be an important mediator of sedimentation to the deep sea, when these pteropods are present in surface waters in large abundance.