Kilometer-Scale Assessment of the Adriatic Dense Water Multi-Decadal Dynamics

The North Adriatic Dense Water (NAddW)—the densest Mediterranean water generated by extreme cooling during wintertime hurricane-strength winds—drives the thermohaline circulation, ventilates the deep layers, and changes the biogeochemical properties of the Adriatic Sea. However, modeling the dynamical properties of such dense water at the climate scale has been a challenge for decades due to the complex coastal geomorphology of the Adriatic basin not properly reproduced by existing climate models. To overcome these deficiencies, a 31-year-long simulation (1987–2017) of the Adriatic Sea and Coast (AdriSC) kilometer-scale atmosphere-ocean model is used to analyze the main NAddW dynamical phases (i.e., generation, spreading and accumulation). The study highlights four key results. First, during winter, the NAddW densities are higher in the shallow northern Adriatic shelf than in the deeper Kvarner Bay—where 25%–35% of the overall NAddW are found to be generated—due to a median bottom temperature difference of 2°C between the two generation sites. Second, the NAddW mass transported across most of the Adriatic peaks between February and May, except along the western side of the Otranto Strait. Third, for the accumulation sites, the bottom layer of the Kvarner Bay is found to be renewed annually while the renewal occurs every 1–3 years in the Jabuka Pit and every 5–10 years in the deep Southern Adriatic Pit. Fourth, the NAddW cascading and accumulation is more pronounced during basin-wide high-salinity conditions driven by circulation changes in the northern Ionian Sea.