Circulation in the Cretan Sea and adjacent regions in late winter 1994

Abstract

This paper presents the qualitative circulation patterns of the ''upper'' and ''deeper'' layers in the Cretan Sea and its environs in late winter 1994. The qualitative aspects of the flow field were determined primarily by the distribution of salinity on appropriate neutral surfaces and were supported by dynamic inferences. Water circulation presented a complex pattern, characterized by various sub-basin and mesoscale cylonic and anticyclonic gyres and smaller-scale eddies. An interesting finding was the presence of an eastward current meandering north of Crete, in the South Aegean Sea. Another interesting finding was the spreading in the opposite direction - westward - of the high-salinity Cretan Deep Water. The latter appeared to follow broadly the bottom bathymetric contours in its westward spreading from the presumed area of its formation in the deepest part of the Cretan Sea, where it also attained maximum thickness. The water exchanges between the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean Sea were influenced by their bottom topography and were also affected by the existence of permanent and/or recurrent circulation features and their variability.