Bibcode
Balbín, R.; Aparicio, A.; López-Jurado, J. L.; Flexas, M. M.
Bibliographical reference
EGU General Assembly 2012, held 22-27 April, 2012 in Vienna, Austria., p.7591
Advertised on:
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2012
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Description
Periodic movements of the trawl fishing fleet at Mallorca Island suggest
a seasonal variability of the demersal resources, associated with
hydrodynamic variability. The area where these commercial fisheries
operate extends from the north to the southeast of Mallorca channel,
between Mallorca and Ibiza Islands. It is thus affected by the different
hydrodynamic conditions of the two sub-basins of the western
Mediterranean (the Balearic and the Algerian sub-basins), with different
geomorphologic and hydrodynamic characteristics. To characterize this
hydrodynamic variability, hydrographic data collected around the
Balearic Islands since 2001 with CTDs were analized [1]. Hydrographic
parameters were processed according to the standard protocols. Dissolved
oxygen (DO) was calibrated onboard using the winkler method. Temperature
and salinity were used to characterize the different water masses. At
the Western Mediterranean, the maximum values of DO in the water column
are observed in the sur- face waters during winter (> 6.0 ml /l),
when these water in contact with the atmosphere absorb large amount of
oxygen, favored by low winter temperatures and notable turbulence. Later
in the spring, the gradual increase of temperature, and the beginning of
stratification and biological activity, lead to a decrease of oxygen
concentration mainly in surface waters. During summer, these values
continue to reduce in the surface mixed layer. Below it, and due to the
biological activity, an increase is observed, giving rise to the
absolute maximum of this parameter (> 6.5 ml /l). During autumn, the
atmospheric forcing breaks the stratification producing a homogenization
of surface water. At this moment, DO shows intermediate values. Below
the surface waters, about 200 m, a relative maximum corresponding to the
seasonal Winter Intermediate Waters (WIW) can be observed. Intermediate
waters, between 400 and 600 m, reveal an oxygen minimum (4.0 ml /l)
associated to the Levantine Intermediate Waters (LIW) and underneath,
the Western Mediterranean Deep Waters (WMDW) show a slight increase of
these values (> 4.5 ml /l). Interannual variability of DO at the
Balearic and the Algerian sub-basins and in the different water masses
will be presented. A systematic difference (> 0.10 ml/l) is observed
at intermediate and deep waters between the oxygen con- tent in the
Balearic and Algerian sub-basins. This could be explained in terms of
the longer path these water masses have to cover around the Mallorca and
Menorca Islands, which implies a longer residence time and consumption
as a result of respiration and decay of organic matter. During some
campaigns minimum DO values (≈ 3.8 ml/l) were found in this area
which are smaller that the values usually reported for the Mediterranean
[2, 3, 4]. Different possible causes as the influence of the Easter
Mediterranean Transient, the reported increase of surface temperature or
just the interannual variability, will be discussed. [1] J. L.
López-Jurado, J. M. García-Lafuente, L. Cano, et al.,
Oceanologica acta, vol. 18, no. 2, 1995. [2] T. Packard, H. Minas, B.
Coste, R. Martinez, M. Bonin, J. Gostan, P. Garfield, J. Christensen, Q.
Dortch, M. Minas, et al., Deep Sea Research Part A. Oceanographic
Research Papers, vol. 35, no. 7, 1988. [3] B. Manca, M. Burca, A.
Giorgetti, C. Coatanoan, M. Garcia,and A. Iona, Journal of marine
systems, vol. 48, no. 1-4, 2004. [4] A. Miller, "Mediterranean sea
atlas of temperature, salinity, and oxygen. profiles and data from
cruises of RV Atlantis and RV Chain," tech. rep., Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts, 1970.