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The result is the formation of the Mediterranean Water that finally spreads into the interior of the North Atlantic forming the most prominent basin-scale thermohaline anomaly at mid-depths, the Mediterranean Salt Tongue, recognizable as a basin-scale salinity anomaly at 1000–1200 m depth through the North Atlantic (see Figure 2).
This triggered the Messinian Salinity Crisis with the formation of thick salt deposits on the former seafloor [7] and erosion of the continental slopes. [8] The Nile and Rhône carved deep canyons during this time. [4] Water levels in the Mediterranean during this time dropped by kilometres. [9]
These density differences caused by temperature and salinity ultimately separate ocean water into distinct water masses, such as the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) and Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW). These two waters are the main drivers of the circulation, which was established in 1960 by Henry Stommel and Arnold B. Arons. [17]
Deep water in the Mediterranean originates from three main areas: the Adriatic Sea, from which most of the deep water in the eastern Mediterranean originates, the Aegean Sea, and the Gulf of Lion. Deep water formation in the Mediterranean is triggered by strong winter convection fueled by intense cold winds like the Bora. When new deep water is ...
Murphy et al.'s 2009 general circulation model experiments [49] showed that for completely desiccated conditions, the Mediterranean basin would warm by up to 15 °C (27 °F) in summer and 4 °C (7.2 °F) in winter, while for a depressed water surface, temperatures would warm by only about 4 °C (7.2 °F) in summer and 5 °C (9.0 °F) in winter.
A dilution basin has a lower salinity due to freshwater gains such as rainfall and rivers, and its water exchange consists of outflow of the fresher mediterranean water in the upper layer and inflow of the saltier oceanic water in the lower layer of the channel. Renewal of deep water may not be sufficient to supply oxygen to the bottom.
Open ocean convection is a process in which the mesoscale ocean circulation and large, strong winds mix layers of water at different depths. Fresher water lying over the saltier or warmer over the colder leads to the stratification of water, or its separation into layers. Strong winds cause evaporation, so the ocean surface cools, weakening the ...
Regarding these works, a deep water formation for central Messinian evaporites seems unlikely. The assumption that central basin evaporites partly deposited under a high bathymetry and before the major phase of erosion should imply the observation of a major detritic event above evaporites in the basin.