![]() The new data set makes it also possible to separate the deep water column into deep and bottom water. This study presents more recent hydrographic, velocity, and chlorofluorocarbon (CFC components CFC-11 and CFC-12) measurements from the northern Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba collected in February and March 1999 ( Figure 1). All these analyses are based on hydrographic data that were measured 10–30 years ago. Woelk and Quadfasel showed that plume convection from the Gulf of Suez alone can explain the observed change in the deep water characteristics in 1982/1983. In contradiction, Neumann and Gill supposed that the Strait of Tiran would be a barrier that cuts off the Gulf of Aqaba from the circulation in the Red Sea. He suggested that overflow water from the Gulf of Aqaba and open ocean convection in February/March south of the Sinai peninsula are both important for the deep water formation in the Red Sea. Cember pointed out that deep convection in the open northern Red Sea has never been directly observed. Wyrtki proposed three different sources for the formation of RSW: overflow from the Gulf of Aqaba through the Strait of Tiran, inflow from the Gulf of Suez, and open ocean convection in the northern Red Sea. However, the formation of the water mass in the northern Red Sea still raises some questions. The spreading of RSW in the Indian Ocean has been studied by using the salinity signal of the water mass. It has been observed as far south as the retroflection region of the Agulhas Current. RSW spreads from the Red Sea into the Arabian Sea and moves southward along the African coast. The Red Sea Water (RSW) is one of the most important intermediate water masses in the Indian Ocean, being a major source of warm and highly saline water in the interior of the ocean. The available data set also shows that the outflow water from the Gulf of Suez is not dense enough to reach down to the bottom of the Red Sea but was found about 250 m above the bottom. Because of the new signal, it is possible for the first time to subdivide the deep water column into deep and bottom water in the northern Red Sea. The CFC data obtained during this cruise are the first available for this region. An anomaly of the chlorofluorocarbon component CFC-12 observed in the Gulf of Aqaba and at the bottom of the Red Sea suggests a strong contribution of this water mass to the renewal of bottom water in the Red Sea. The overflow water from the Gulf of Aqaba was found to be the densest water mass in the northern Red Sea. The observations in 1999 showed no evidence for open ocean convection in the Red Sea during the winter 1998/1999. ![]() Historical data showed that open ocean convection in the Red Sea can contribute to the renewal of intermediate or deep water but cannot ventilate the bottom water. Conductivity-temperature-depth tracer and direct current measurements collected in the northern Red Sea in February and March 1999 are used to study the formation of deep and bottom water in that region. ![]()
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