Numerical Studies of the Gulf of Cadiz Circulation

A. Peliz (1), J. Dubert (1), Teles-Machado (1), and P. Marchesiello (2)

(1) Dept. Physics (CESAM), Univ. of Aveiro, Portugal
(2)Institut de Recherche pour le D'eveloppement, BPA5, Noumea, New Caledonia


The the entrainment of Central Water by the Mediterranean Outflow as it descends the northern slope of the Gulf of Cadiz has been proposed to be the generation mechanism of the Azores Current either by the production of a planetary beta-plume or by a topographic beta plume. Although theoretical studies exist that support this link, few attempts have been made to match these two circulation features in one modeling framework. The simulation of realistic Mediterranean Outflow requires resolutions order of 2 km, while the Azores Current is a Cross-Atlantic jet. This makes this problem particularly suitable for future 2-way nesting applications. We show results of a step-by-step approach where large scale configurations with a parameterization of the Mediterranean Overflow are used to initialize and control the open boundaries of high resolution Gulf-scale grids with explicitly imposed Mediterranean Outflow.