Simulation of the barotropic circulation in the Western Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

A numerical model is used to reproduce the main barotropic features of the Western Mediterranean currents, induced by the inflow through the Strait of Gibraltar and the outflow at the Sicily Channel. The model is solved numerically on a staggered Arakawa C-grid with a 41.5 km in x and 39 km in y resolution. Results reproduce the presence of cyclonic features at the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the region between the Algiers basin and the western part of the Balearic islands and anticyclonic features between the Abyssal plane, Algiers Basin and the Sardinian-Balearic Pass.