Hydrographic and XCP data taken during the Gulf of Cadiz Expedition in September 1988 were analyzed to infer the dynamics of the Mediterranean outflow from the Strait of Gibraltar and results detailed in two manuscripts (Baringer and Price, 1995a,b). These data show that the outflow transport doubles from 0.85~Sv to 1.9~Sv within the Gulf of Cadiz, and that the velocity weighted salinity decreases from 37.8 to 36.7 in the first 60~km of the path (Baringer and Price, 1995a). Gradient Richardson numbers less than 1/4 are found in the interface (up to 50~m thick) between westward flowing Mediterranean water and eastward flowing North Atlantic water, even though there is a strong stabilizing stratification present. The mixing was localized along the path of the outflow and correlated with bulk Froude numbers.
Baringer and Price (1995b) use a form of the Bernoulli function is evaluated to infer the total stress (entrainment stress and bottom drag) acting on the outflow. For the Mediterranean outflow, the total stress is as large as 5~Pa within 20~km of the strait, while further downstream the total stress decreases to about $\frac{1}{2}$~Pa. The entrainment stress estimated independently from property fluxes reaches a maximum of about 0.8~Pa at about 15~km downstream of the last sill in the Strait of Gibraltar. They find that in order to model outflows, large frictional and entrainment stresses must be anticipated and modelled through realtistic parameterizations.
Baringer, M. O'Neil and Price, J. F., 1997 Mixing and spreading of the Mediterranean outflow, Journal of Physical Oceanography, 27 (8), 1654-1677.
Baringer, M. O'Neil and Price, J. F., 1997 Momentum and energy balance of the Mediterranean outflow, Journal of Physical Oceanography, 27 (8), 1678-1692.
Baringer, M. O'Neil and Price, J. F., 1997 A review of the Physical Oceanography of the Mediterranean Outflow, Marine Geology, in press.
Baringer, M. O'Neil and Price, J. F., 1995 Mixing in the Mediterranean Outflow: Observations from the 1988 Gulf of Cadiz Expedition Deep-Sea Research, to be submitted.
Baringer, M. O'Neil and Price, J. F., 1995 Momentum and energy balance of the Mediterranean Outflow: Observations from the 1988 Gulf of Cadiz Expedition. Deep-Sea Research, to be submitted.
Baringer, M. O. and J. F. Price, 1990. A simple model of the descending Mediterranean outflow plume. Physical Oceanography of Sea Straits, Kluwer Academic Publishers, L. J. Pratt, ed., NATO-ASI series, 298--308.
Johnson, G. C. and T. B. Sanford and M. O'Neil Baringer, 1994. Stress on the Mediterranean Outflow Plume: Part I. Velocity and Water Property Measurements. JPO, 24, 2072-2083.
Price, J. F. and M. O. Baringer, 1994. Overflows and deep water production by marginal seas. Progress in Oceanography, 33, 161-200.
Price, J. F., M. O. Baringer, R. G. Lueck, G. C. Johnson, I. Ambar, G. Parrilla, A. Cantos, M. A. Kennelly and T. B. Sanford, 1993. Mediterranean outflow mixing and dynamics. Science, 259, 1277-1282.