ESTIMATION OF DEEP AND INTERMEDIATE WATER MASS FORMATION RATES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN-SEA

Using a simple diagnostic model and climatological surface temperature. salinity and air-sea fluxes. the deep and intermediate water formation sites of the Mediterranean Sea are determined. as well as the annual formation rates for each of them. With the same model. the T and S characteristics of the water masses are estimated. Four distinct formation sites arc formed; one in the western (Gulf of Lions) and three in the eastern (Adriatic-Northern Ionian. Rhodes gyre area, Southern Aegean) basin respectively, with well defined water-types being produced at each formation site. The computed annual production rates compare quite well with other independent estimations found in literature.