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A three-layer model of hydrodynamic processes in the Cyprus Eddy system

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Abstract

A three-layer quasi-geostrophic model was developed to examine the topographic eddies generated around the Eratosthenes Seamount in the southeastern Levantine basin, particularly the dipolar vortex structure, consisting of the anticyclonic Cyprus Eddy and a smaller-scale cyclone. The numerical experiments were carried out using the Contour Dynamics Method, imposing an eastward flow with different inclinations and intensities along the western boundary of the model domain to imitate the Mid-Mediterranean Jet. The dual nature of topographic eddies was previously reported to be generated frequently in a homogeneous ocean approximation, but in the current study, the consideration of baroclinicity primarily simulated a single vortex attributed to the Cyprus Eddy with the small-scale cyclone to be generated occasionally. Also, it was demonstrated that the direction and intensity of the imposed eastward flow along the western boundary of the model domain are the main factors in the formation of the cyclonic vortex. The modeling results showed a qualitative agreement with the geostrophic patterns derived from in-situ observations in the wider sea area of the Eratosthenes Seamount.

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Data availability

The datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on request.

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Funding

The work of VME and MAS was carried out in the frame of the Program No. FMWZ-2022–0001 (State Registration No. 122041100222–7). VME and MAS were supported by the Russian Science Foundation (RSF project No. 22–27-00431), and MAS was supported also by Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR project No. 20–05-00083).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Water Problems Institute, Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, Russia

    Viktoriia M. Egorova & Mikhail A. Sokolovskiy

  2. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, Russia

    Mikhail A. Sokolovskiy

  3. ORION Research, Nicosia, Cyprus

    George Zodiatis

  4. Coastal & Marine Research Lab, Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics, FORTH, Heraklion, Greece

    George Zodiatis

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  1. Viktoriia M. Egorova
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  2. Mikhail A. Sokolovskiy
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  3. George Zodiatis
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Correspondence to George Zodiatis.

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Egorova, V.M., Sokolovskiy, M.A. & Zodiatis, G. A three-layer model of hydrodynamic processes in the Cyprus Eddy system. Ocean Dynamics 74, 19–36 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-023-01584-6

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