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Seasonal and Vertical Tidal Variability in the Southeastern Mediterranean Sea
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  • Nadav Mantel,
  • Hezi Gildor,
  • Yizhak Feliks,
  • Pierre-Marie Poulain,
  • Elena Mauri,
  • Milena Menna
Nadav Mantel
Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Hezi Gildor
The Hebrew University
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Yizhak Feliks
The Hebrew University
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Pierre-Marie Poulain
OGS - Italy
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Elena Mauri
Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS), Italy
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Milena Menna
National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics - OGS
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Abstract

Currents and pressure records from the DeepLev mooring station (Eastern Levantine Basin) are analyzed to identify the dominant tidal constituents and their seasonal and depth variability. Harmonic and spectral analysis on seasonal segments of currents and pressure reveal attributes of the tidal regime in the Eastern Levantine Basin: (1) Dominant semidiurnal sea-level variability; (2) seasonal variation of semidiurnal and diurnal tides found in both currents and pressure datasets; and (3) significant diurnal currents with weak semidiurnal currents in all seasons. The most dominant tidal constituent found from the pressure dataset is the M2 (12.4 h). Results from pressure datasets generally agree with previous models and observations of semidiurnal tides, while the diurnal tides are larger than previously reported by 8-9 cm in the winter and 1-2 cm in the summer. The surface current variability differs from the one reported before in the Eastern Levantine Basin, with M2 magnitudes weaker by 1 cm, while the diurnal tides (K1, O1) are 1-2 cm larger. Seasonal segments showed seasonal differences in the local tidal regime’s amplitudes, with the K1 (7 cm difference between winter and fall) and S2 (4 cm difference between summer and fall) the most pronounced. We analyzed the M2 and S2 tides using surface drifters near DeepLev at different dataset lengths while considering the time constraints needed to resolve the tides adequately. The longer the dataset, the higher the resolution of the tidal analysis and the lower the amplitude leakages from nearby frequencies resulting in weaker tidal currents.
19 Sep 2023Submitted to ESS Open Archive
30 Sep 2023Published in ESS Open Archive