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The inverse estuarine circulation through the strait of Gibraltar is responsible for the overflow of dense, saline MOW towards the Atlantic basin. Initially as a gravity undercurrent, the MOW entrains large amounts of the overlying Eastern North Atlantic CentralWater to become a multi-layered, buoyant plume at depths of 800-1300 m past Cape St. Vincent. Much of the entrainment occurs within 100 km of the Strait over a highly abrupt topography. In this work we analyze a repeated series of high-resolution CTD-LADCP observations along a number of standard sections crossing the early MOW. These data show that from the Strait of Gibraltar, the bottom-trapped flow bifurcates in the vicinity of the topographic features, diverting or rejoining the main MOWpath as a function of the orientation of channels and valleys. As it turns anticyclonically, the undercurrent exhibits a cross-axis geostrophic gradient, with the margin closer to the slope being in near-geostrophic balance whereas the distal band is largely ageostrophic due to the flow curvature. Mixing is steered by the interplay of tidal stirring, bottom roughness, shear instability and double diffusion along the MOWpath. Data also shows that seasonal variability is mostly related to the fluctuations in the overlying layer rather than to MOW dynamics. This is a contribution to INGRES3 project (Mediterranean outflow at Gibraltar, its influence on deep Mediterranean water ventilation and first transformation and coupling with North-Atlantic central waters in the Gulf of Cádiz, CTM2010_21229) Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Manual y documentaciónd e apoyo para utilización del software Hydroieo de porcesado de datos de campañas., Perplan

Over the past decade, recruitment processes of the two species of Lepidorhombus that overlap in the southern Bay of Biscay seem to respond to similar patterns. This appears to be partially explained by density independent factors. Before summer, egg and larval drift by the currents over the continental shelf play a key role. After summer, the upwelling strength seems to influence survival of juveniles through food availability., Sí

Biological-physical data from 1993-2000 have evidenced the variability of the oceanographic scenarios in the Cantabrian Sea. A wide casuistic of summer upwelling has been shown. Year-to-year variability of hake recruitments is explained upon aggregation-dispersion of pre-recruits, and survival after area recruitment. Reversal of the current pattern above the continental shelf may affect first the aggregation pattern of larvae and then their survival via blockage of the trophic chain at the primary level. 0