Climate Change May be Causing the Atlantic Ocean to Become Saltier

First Posted: Oct 26, 2015 09:00 AM EDT

Most people are aware that climate change causes a host of issues around the world. But did you know that it may be responsible for more salt in the North Atlantic? Scientists have taken a closer look at this phenomenon to find out exactly what may be causing a saltier sea.

In this latest study, the researchers investigated the dynamics of Mediterranean outflow. They analyzed its behavior under different climatic conditions in the geologic past. More specifically, they studied core samples from the continental shelf off of southern Spain and Portugal. This data, in particular, showed that the Mediterranean current was subject to massive and extremely abrupt fluctuations over the last 150,000 years.

In fact, the strength of this current mainly depends on the intensity of the African monsoon, as is evident from the origin of the water that flows into the Atlantic. It derives for the most part from the eastern Mediterranean, where hot and dry conditions raise the salt content in the surface water.

In winter, these water masses cool, become denser and flow west at greater depths, where they leave the Mediterranean through the Straits of Gibraltar. If strong monsoons in Northeast Africa increase the inflow of fresh water, the creation of this dense, salty water is inhibited. This means that the outflow of Mediterranean water into the Atlantic is also weakened.

In contrast, very dry conditions in the eastern Mediterranean that current climate models predict will boost the salt content in the surface waters and strengthen the current from the Mediterranean.

The findings reveal that climate change may cause the seas to become a bit saltier as weather patterns change.

The findings are published in the journal Geology.

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TagsClimate Change, Climate, Climate Warming, Climate Models, Ocean, Atlantic, Salt