available, model simulations and predictions must
be taken with care. After proper validation, the
models can be used as a means of obtaining predictions of the response of the outflow to external
forcings. Such experiments may be used also to
study feedback processes and to identify the principal elements involved. However, one has to be
very careful not to stretch the available evidence
and venture into unsupported speculations on
what might happen if, for example, the present
trends of salinity increase of the deep waters in the
Mediterranean persist; and in what ways this
might affect the deep water formation processes in
the North Atlantic, and consequently the thermohaline circulation of the world’s oceans.
All evidence points towards a very important
contribution of the Mediterranean outflow to the
thermohaline circulation of the World Ocean and
therefore on climate. Nonetheless, the evidence
remains sketchy and incomplete. Much further
research is required to enable us to understand the
mean state and the variability of the Mediterranean outflow and to model its characteristics
properly in large-scale climate models, before a
certain assessment can be made. Both components
are important because their proper understanding
would provide models with a good chance of correctly predicting future changes in the outflow and
their consequences for the ocean’s circulation and
climate.
Acknowledgements
The reported transport measurements in the Strait
of Gibraltar between October 1994 and October
1996 were done in collaboration with Richard
Limeburner from the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA,
and with Juan Rico Palma from the Instituto
Hidrográfico de la Marina in Cadiz, Spain. These
measurements were supported by the US Office of
Naval Research contract N00014-94-1-0347 and
by grant OCE-93-13645 from the US National
Science Foundation. The Instituto Hidrográfico de
la Marina in Cadiz, Spain, provided invaluable
logistic support during the field work and the use
of the hydrographic ships B.H. Tofiño and B.H.
Malaspina. Uwe Send from the Institut für
Meereskunde Regionale Ozeanographie, Kiel,
Germany, is greatly acknowledged for providing
shipboard ADCP observations collected by the RV
Poseidon in April 1996 and October 1997.
5.7 Mediterranean Water and Global Circulation
429
Candela
be taken with care. After proper validation, the
models can be used as a means of obtaining predictions of the response of the outflow to external
forcings. Such experiments may be used also to
study feedback processes and to identify the principal elements involved. However, one has to be
very careful not to stretch the available evidence
and venture into unsupported speculations on
what might happen if, for example, the present
trends of salinity increase of the deep waters in the
Mediterranean persist; and in what ways this
might affect the deep water formation processes in
the North Atlantic, and consequently the thermohaline circulation of the world’s oceans.
All evidence points towards a very important
contribution of the Mediterranean outflow to the
thermohaline circulation of the World Ocean and
therefore on climate. Nonetheless, the evidence
remains sketchy and incomplete. Much further
research is required to enable us to understand the
mean state and the variability of the Mediterranean outflow and to model its characteristics
properly in large-scale climate models, before a
certain assessment can be made. Both components
are important because their proper understanding
would provide models with a good chance of correctly predicting future changes in the outflow and
their consequences for the ocean’s circulation and
climate.
Acknowledgements
The reported transport measurements in the Strait
of Gibraltar between October 1994 and October
1996 were done in collaboration with Richard
Limeburner from the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA,
and with Juan Rico Palma from the Instituto
Hidrográfico de la Marina in Cadiz, Spain. These
measurements were supported by the US Office of
Naval Research contract N00014-94-1-0347 and
by grant OCE-93-13645 from the US National
Science Foundation. The Instituto Hidrográfico de
la Marina in Cadiz, Spain, provided invaluable
logistic support during the field work and the use
of the hydrographic ships B.H. Tofiño and B.H.
Malaspina. Uwe Send from the Institut für
Meereskunde Regionale Ozeanographie, Kiel,
Germany, is greatly acknowledged for providing
shipboard ADCP observations collected by the RV
Poseidon in April 1996 and October 1997.
5.7 Mediterranean Water and Global Circulation
429
Candela