TY - JOUR T1 - Western Mediterranean sea-level rise: changing exchange flow through the Strait of Gibraltar A1 - Ross,T A1 - Garrett,C A1 - Le Traon,Pierre-Yves AD - Univ Victoria, Dept Phys & Astron, Victoria, BC V8W 3P6, Canada. AD - CLS Space Oceanog Div, Dept Oceanog, F-31526 Ramonville St Agne, St Agne, France. UR - https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00079/19032/ DO - 10.1029/2000GL011653 N2 - Sea-level data from tide gauges and satellite altimetry show a decrease of nearly 40% in the sea-level drop between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean from 1994 to 1997, coming mainly from a rapid rise of western Mediterranean sea-level by more than 10 mm/year. A decrease in the sea-level difference across the Strait, coincident with this Mediterranean rise, indicates that the surface inflow is reduced by an amount dynamically consistent with the change along the strait. These secular changes are accompanied by a seasonal cycle in the sea-level drop between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, which indicates a seasonal flipping of hydraulic exchange states in the Strait of Gibraltar. Thus, we suggest the sea-level rise in the Mediterranean is a consequence of a changing exchange flow through the Strait of Gibraltar, driven indirectly by changing conditions in the Mediterranean. Y1 - 2000/09 PB - Amer Geophysical Union JF - Geophysical Research Letters SN - 0094-8276 VL - 27 IS - 18 SP - 2949 EP - 2952 ID - 19032 ER -