The comprehension of seawater circulation in the central Mediterranean Sea is of great importance to better understand the exchanges of water, heat and chemical compounds between the eastern and western Mediterranean basins and ultimately to the Atlantic Sea. Within the framework of the TIMED and NextData projects, we newly implemented the geochemical tracers of Rare Earth Elements and the isotopic composition of Nd (eNd) in 9 seawater profiles in the central Mediterranean Sea. The distributions of heavy REE and eNd seem to display a conservative behavior explained by mixing of Modified Atlantic Waters, Levantine Intermediate Waters, Eastern Mediterranean Deep Waters (EMDW) and Western Mediterranean Deep Waters. We have introduced these tools in an Optimum Multi-Parameter Analysis together with typical hydrographic variables (potential temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen). Consistent results of water mass fractions are obtained with some particularities. The most intriguing outcome is the favored detection of EMDW in the Tyrrhenian Sea when considering eNd in the model. This latter finding implies a noticeable deep water flux across the Sicily Strait into the Western Mediterranean that was not clearly evidenced before.
Ester Garcia-Solsona, Leopoldo D. Pena, Eduardo Paredes, José N. Pérez-Asensio, Lucía Quirós-Collazos, Fabrizio Lirer & Isabel Cacho: Rare earth elements and Nd isotopes as tracers of modern ocean circulation in the central Mediterran, Progress in Oceanography Volume 185, June 2020