The role of tides in the spreading of Mediterranean Outflow waters along the southwestern Iberian margin

Abstract

Abstract The impact of tides on the spreading of the Mediterranean Outflow Waters (MOW) in the Gulf of Cadiz is investigated through a series of targeted numerical experiments using an ocean general circulation model. The full ephimeridic luni-solar tidal potential is included as forcing. The model grid is global with a strong zoom around the Iberian Peninsula. Thus, the interaction of processes of different space and time scales, which are involved in the MOW spreading, is enabled. This is of particular importance in the Strait of Gibraltar and the Gulf of Cadiz, where the width of the MOW plume is a few tens of km. The experiment with enabled tides successfully simulates the main tidal features of the North Atlantic and in the Gulf of Cadiz and the Strait of Gibraltar. The comparison of the fields from simulations with and without tidal forcing shows drastically different MOW pathways in the Gulf of Cadiz: The experiment without tides shows an excessive southwestward spreading of Mediterranean Waters along the North African slope, whereas the run with tides is closer to climatology. A detailed analysis indicates that tidal residual currents in the Gulf of Cadiz are the main cause for these differences.