资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

The exceptionally cold December 2016 over the Aegean Sea-one of the most important dense water formation areas of the eastern Mediterranean Sea-resulted in winter heat loss comparable to the peak Eastern Mediterranean Transient winters (1992-1993). Hydrological data sampled in March/April 2017 showed that newly produced dense waters ventilated the North Aegean deep basins up to density horizons of sigma(theta) similar to 29.35 kg/m(3). The water column ventilation was unable to reach the bottom as the present upper thermohaline circulation of the eastern Mediterranean does not favor the salinity preconditioning of the Aegean Sea. In the southwest Aegean, the Myrtoan basin was ventilated by dense waters traceable farther south to the West Cretan Straits. Export of these masses from the Aegean Sea can potentially have a broader impact on the thermohaline circulation of the eastern Mediterranean.