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Past, Present and Future Patterns of the Thermohaline Circulation and Characteristic Water Masses of the Mediterranean Sea

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The Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

The aim of this section is to provide a comprehensive overview of the research findings concerning the thermohaline circulation of the Mediterranean Sea. The decadal/inter-decadal variability and long-term evolution of the thermohaline properties of the Mediterranean Basin are extensively discussed. We focus on the major climate transient thermohaline events and their links to atmospheric variability and anthropogenic/environmental changes that dramatically changed the deep hydrology and strongly affected the marine ecosystems of the Mediterranean basin during the last 20 years. This section also includes a synthesis of the results of future projections of the thermohaline circulation derived by climate model simulations of the Mediterranean region covering the twenty-first century. The expected effects of the projected thermohaline circulation changes on the marine ecology are also discussed.

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Abbreviations

ADW:

Adriatic Deep Water

AW:

Atlantic Water

BSW:

Black Sea Water

CDW:

Cretan Deep Water

CIW:

Cretan Intermediate Water

DWF:

Deep Water Formation

EMDW:

Eastern Mediterranean Deep Water

EMED:

Eastern Mediterranean

EMT:

Eastern Mediterranean Transient

LIW:

Levantine Intermediate Water

LSW:

Levantine Surface Water

MOW:

Mediterranean Overflow Water

NACW:

North Atlantic Central Water

NADW:

North Atlantic Deep Water

TDW:

Tyrrhenian Deep Water

TMW:

Transitional Mediterranean Water

WIW:

Western Intermediate Water

WMDW:

Western Mediterranean Deep Water

WMED:

Western Mediterranean

WMT:

Western Mediterranean Transition

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    Nikolaos Skliris

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  1. Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Stefano Goffredo

  2. Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Zvy Dubinsky

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Skliris, N. (2014). Past, Present and Future Patterns of the Thermohaline Circulation and Characteristic Water Masses of the Mediterranean Sea. In: Goffredo, S., Dubinsky, Z. (eds) The Mediterranean Sea. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6704-1_3

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