Articles | Volume 21, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-1441-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-1441-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
22 Jul 2025
Research article |
| 22 Jul 2025
| 22 Jul 2025
Surface saline lakes in the Mediterranean Sea
Ruđer Bošković Institute, Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Bijenička cesta 54, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Clara Gardiol
SeaTech, Ecole d'ingénieurs – Université de Toulon, Toulon, France
Ivica Vilibić
Ruđer Bošković Institute, Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Bijenička cesta 54, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Institute for Adriatic Crops and Karst Reclamation, Split, Croatia
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Petra Pranić, Cléa Denamiel, and Ivica Vilibić
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The Adriatic Sea and Coast model was developed due to the need for higher-resolution climate models and longer-term simulations to capture coastal atmospheric and ocean processes at climate scales in the Adriatic Sea. The ocean results of a 31-year-long simulation were compared to the observational data. The evaluation revealed that the model is capable of reproducing the observed physical properties with good accuracy and can be further used to study the dynamics of the Adriatic–Ionian basin.
Petra Zemunik, Jadranka Šepić, Havu Pellikka, Leon Ćatipović, and Ivica Vilibić
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A new global dataset – MISELA (Minute Sea-Level Analysis) – has been developed and contains quality-checked sea-level records from 331 tide gauges worldwide for a period from 2004 to 2019. The dataset is appropriate for research on atmospherically induced high-frequency sea-level oscillations. Research on these oscillations is important, as they can, like all sea-level extremes, seriously threaten coastal zone infrastructure and populations.
Iva Tojčić, Cléa Denamiel, and Ivica Vilibić
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This study quantifies the performance of the Croatian meteotsunami early warning system (CMeEWS) composed of a network of air pressure and sea level observations developed in order to help coastal communities prepare for extreme events. The system would have triggered the warnings for most of the observed events but also set off some false alarms if it was operational during the multi-meteotsunami event of 11–19 May 2020 in the eastern Adriatic. Further development of the system is planned.
Cléa Denamiel, Petra Pranić, Damir Ivanković, Iva Tojčić, and Ivica Vilibić
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 3995–4017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-3995-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-3995-2021, 2021
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The atmospheric results of the Adriatic Sea and Coast (AdriSC) climate simulation (1987–2017) are evaluated against available observational datasets in the Adriatic region. Generally, the AdriSC model performs better than regional climate models that have resolutions that are 4 times more coarse, except concerning summer temperatures, which are systematically underestimated. High-resolution climate models may thus provide new insights about the local impacts of global warming in the Adriatic.
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Short summary
Vertical salinity profiles with their highest values at the surface layers – surface saline lakes – have been known to occur in the eastern Mediterranean, where strong evaporation, warm summers, and low winds all contribute to an increase in surface salinity. Our analysis of Argo data from the past 2 decades showed that saline lakes also occur in other regions across the Mediterranean Sea. This poses the question of whether such changes indicate a salinification of the entire basin due to climate change.
Vertical salinity profiles with their highest values at the surface layers – surface saline...
