Circulation in mediterranean seas. left: in concentration basins; right: in dilution basins. In both situations water exchange across the sill occurs for two reasons, firstly to make up for the water loss or gain experienced by the mediterranean sea, and secondly as a result of the density and associated pressure difference between the mediterranean sea and the adjacent ocean. The second mechanism, which drives a flow from the region of higher density to the region of lower density below a compensation flow in the opposite direction, produces by far the larger transport.

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