by Global Ocean Associates Prepared for Office of Naval Research – Code 322 PO

The Strait of Gibraltar is located between the southern coast of Spain and the northern coast of Morocco (Figure 1). It is the single connection between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Water flow through the straight consists of an upper layer of Atlantic water flowing eastward over a lower layer of Mediterranean water flowing westward. The strait has been an area of intense study in order to understand and characterize this exchange of water of between the Atlantic and Mediterranean [Brandt et al. 1996]. Early studies are described in Defant [1961], while Lancombe and Richez [1982] describe an investigation carried out in the 1960's over several ocean campaigns under the aegis of the NATO subcommittee on Oceanographic Research. Those data were also used by Armi and Farmer [1985] to interpret the hydraulic flow through the Straight and helped motivate the Gibralta