Cyprus Topographic Eddies within the General Circulation of the Eastern Mediterranean

Abstract— This paper presents generalized solutions to the problem of generating the Cyprus topographic eddies in the eastward flow over the nonaxisymmetric topography, including the Eratosthenes Seamount, an underwater hollow, and local lowering of the average seabed level in the Levantine Basin. Based on the three-layer quasi-geostrophic model, the obtained results complement the previous studies of a dipole vortex structure observed south of the Cyprus Island. The underwater hollow together with the local lowering of the average seabed level affect the cyclonic circulation formation in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Cyprus topographic cyclone can exist both autonomously and as an eastern branch of the Rhodes Gyre. Cyclonic activity conditions, including the formation of localized cyclones and the development of general cyclonic circulation, depend on the hydrodynamic environment, in particular, on a background eastward flow velocity. The flow velocity variations affect spatial characteristics of the Cyprus anticyclonic eddy.