Mediterranean sea (oceanography)

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A mediterranean sea (/ˌmɛdɪtəˈrniən/) is, in oceanography, a mostly enclosed sea that has limited exchange of water with outer oceans and with water circulation dominated by salinity and temperature differences rather than winds or tides.[1][2] The eponymous Mediterranean Sea, for example, is almost completely enclosed by Europe, Asia, and Africa.

List of mediterranean seas

The Mediterranean seas of the Atlantic Ocean

The Mediterranean seas of the Indian Ocean

Types of Mediterranean seas

There are two types of Mediterranean sea.

Concentration basin

  • A concentration basin has a higher salinity than the outer ocean due to evaporation, and its water exchange consists of inflow of the fresher oceanic water in the upper layer and outflow of the saltier Mediterranean water in the lower layer of the connecting channel.
    • The Red Sea
    • The Persian Gulf
    • The Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea is also a concentration basin as a whole, but the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea are dilution basins (see below) owing to the Danube, Don, and Dnieper Rivers and the Po River respectively.

Dilution basin

  • A dilution basin has a lower salinity due to freshwater gains such as rainfall and rivers, and its water exchange consists of outflow of the fresher Mediterranean water in the upper layer and inflow of the saltier oceanic water in the lower layer of the channel. Renewal of deep water may not be sufficient to supply oxygen to the bottom.

Exceptions

See also

References

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