Articles | Volume 21, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-3195-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-3195-2025
Research article
 | 
27 Nov 2025
Research article |  | 27 Nov 2025

Dense shelf water and associated sediment transport in the Cap de Creus Canyon and adjacent shelf under mild winter regimes: insights from the 2021–2022 winter

Marta Arjona-Camas, Xavier Durrieu de Madron, François Bourrin, Helena Fos, Anna Sanchez-Vidal, and David Amblas

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Cited articles

Allen, S. E. and Durrieu de Madron, X.: A review of the role of submarine canyons in deep-ocean exchange with the shelf, Ocean Sci., 5, 607–620, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-5-607-2009, 2009. 
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Arjona-Camas, M., Puig, P., Palanques, A., Durán, R., White, M., Paradis, S., and Emelianov, M.: Natural vs. trawling-induced water turbidity and suspended sediment transport variability within the Palamós Canyon (NW Mediterranean), Mar. Geophys. Res., 42, 38, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11001-021-09457-7, 2021. 
Béthoux, J., Durrieu de Madron, X., Nyffeler, F., and Taiiliez, D.: Deep water in the western Mediterranean: peculiar 1999 and 2000 characteristics, shelf formation hypothesis, variability since 1970 and geochemical interferences, J. Mar. Sys., 33, 117–131, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0924-7963(02)00055-6, 2002. 
Blair, N. E. and Aller, R. C.: The fate of terrestrial organic carbon in the marine environment, Annu. Rev. Mar. Sci., 4, 401–423, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-120709-142717, 2012. 
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Short summary
This study examines dense shelf water and sediment transport in the Cap de Creus Canyon during the mild winter of 2021–2022, using multiplatform-observational data and the MedSea Reanalysis product. Results show dense shelf waters on the shelf and upper canyon, contributing to Western Intermediate Water. Dense shelf water transport exhibit marked interannual variability, even under mild winters. MDSWC (mild dense shelf water cascading) events are expected to increase with climate change, favoring intermediate-water formation.
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