Dense water formation in the Gulf of Lions shelf: Impact of atmospheric interannual variability and climate change

Dense water formed over the continental shelf and cascading down the slope is responsible for shelf-slope exchanges in many parts of the world ocean, and transports large amounts of sediment and organic matter into the deep ocean. Here we perform numerical modeling experiments to investigate the impact of atmospheric interannual variability and climate change on dense water formation over the Gulf of Lions shelf, in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea. Results obtained for a 140 years eddy-permitting simulation (1960–2100) performed over the whole Mediterranean Sea under IPCC A2 scenario forcings are used to force a regional eddy-resolving model of the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea.