Mediterranean Outflow Water

Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) is the warm, saline water that exits the Mediterranean through the lower layer of the Strait of Gibraltar, with a salinity near 38.4 and high temperature relative to the Atlantic. After passing the sill it cascades down the slope in the Gulf of Cadiz, entrains North Atlantic water, and settles at its neutral-buoyancy level near 1000 to 1200 meters, where it spreads as a salty intermediate layer. The outflow sheds long-lived anticyclonic eddies called meddies that carry Mediterranean salt and heat far across the North Atlantic interior.