MEDITERRANEAN LENS IRVING AFTER ITS COLLISION WITH SEAMOUNTS

Abstract

In January 1990 a Meddy was observed 100 km to the west of the Irving Seamount just after it had passed through a narrow passage between Hyeres and Irving Seamounts located at the western edge of the Canary Basin. Vertically, Meddy "Irving' had two cores centred at 900 and 1150 m depth. In the horizontal plane the Meddy had an elliptical shape with axes of 100 and 60 km. Behind the Meddy, a wake of saline water was found which tracked the lens trajectory. Two small salty patches were observed inside the wake; these were probably split from Meddy "Irving' during the impact with bottom topography. Despite the damage caused by the collision with the seamounts, Meddy "Irving' kept its individuality and coherent structure. -from Authors