Seasonality of Red Sea Mixed-Layer Depth and Density Budget

Aditya R Kartadikaria1, Ivana Cerovecki2, Georgios Krokos3 and Ibrahim Hoteit1, (1)King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Physical Sciences and Engineering, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, (2)UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States, (3)King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
Abstract:
The Red Sea is an active area of water mass formation. Dense water initially formed in the northern Red Sea, in the Gulf of Aqaba and the Gulf of Suez, spreads southward and finally flows to the open ocean through the Gulf of Aden via the narrow strait of Bab Al Mandeb. The signature of this outflow can be traced until the southern Indian Ocean, and is characterized by potential density of σθ ≈ 27.4. This water mass is important because it represents a significant source of heat and salt for the Indian Ocean. Using a high-resolution 1km regional MITgcm ocean model for the period 1992-2001 configured for the Red Sea, we examine the spatio-temporal characteristics of water mass formation inside the basin by analyzing closed and complete temperature and salinity budgets. The deepest mixed-layers (MLD) always develop in the northern part of the basin where surface ocean buoyancy loss leads to the Red Sea Intermediate and Deep Water formation. As this water is advected south, it is strongly modified by diapycnal mixing of heat and salt.