Hydrological structure of the Cretan Sea and adjacent regions in late winter 1994

Abstract

Analysis of CTD data collected in the Cretan Sea and adjacent regions in late winter 1994 revealed the hydrological structure of their waters: Modified Atlantic Water (MAW) occurs in the south-eastern Ionian Sea and enters the Cretan Sea through the Antikithira Strait. Levantine Surface Water (LSW) spreads into the Cretan Sea across the Karpathos and Rhodos Straits. Surface waters of Black Sea origin (BSW) are identified in the north-western Cretan Sea. Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) is present everywhere as a subsurface salinity maximum. Saline and warm Cretan Deep Water (CDW) occurs as a thick bottom layer in the Cretan Sea and also in the Antikithira and Kassos Straits; however, its influence is felt over the entire study area. Notable is the absence of the Eastern Mediterranean Deep Water (EMDW); instead, Eastern Mediterranean Transition Waters (EMTW) occupy thick layers beyond the Cretan Sea, whilst after intruding the latter, via the Antikithira, Kassos and Karpathos Straits, their signature is a pronounced salinity and temperature minimum layer. © 1997 Osservatorio Geofisico Sperimentale.