Seasonal patterns of wind-induced upwelling/downwelling in the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

The historical file of wind observations from maritime weather reports is summarized to identify the characteristic seasonal distributions of wind-induced Ekman upwelling and downwelling in the Mediterranean Sea. Both coastal upwelling/downwelling and wind-stress curl-driven "open ocean" upwelling/downwelling are treated in a unified description. Vigorous upwelling zones are found in the eastern Aegean Sea, off the west coast of Greece, and in the Gulf of Lyons. The southern coast of the Mediterranean is found to be primarily a downwelling area, although significant coastal upwelling does appear in the Gulf of Sidra during the spring and summer seasons, and along the Algerian coast during summer.