Circulation off Algeria inferred from the Mediprod-5 current meters

The general circulation features of the oceans off Algeria have long been the subject of debate and have been difficult to evaluate. A new study, based on the Western Mediterranean Circulation Experiment, centres its findings on infra-red images, plus temperature and current data collected at 0-5 deg East and at depths of 100, 300, 1000 and 2000 mt, and shows that the surface and deep eddies around the eastern Algerian Basin remain linked and describe a cyclonic circuit. The findings support the hypothesis that mesoscale eddies formed by the Algerian Current can have a strong influence on the circulation of all water masses. Details of the experiment are presented.