Tide at the eastern section of the Strait of Gibraltar

From October 1995 to April 1996, three mooring lines were deployed at the eastern entrance of the Strait of Gibraltar. The spatial coverage of the mooring array allows for a good description of the tides. They exhibit a dominant semidiurnal nature and a noticeable baroclinic structure that matches the one of the mean exchange. Tidal currents in the upper layer are irregular and usually too weak to reverse the mean upper layer flow that keeps on flowing east. Lower layer flow reverses with semidiurnal periodicity because of the smallness of the mean flow and the appreciable amplitude of the regular semidiurnal oscillation of tidal currents in this layer. Tidal transports can be satisfactorily compared with previous estimates of Bryden et al. [1994] if we allow for strong internal divergences associated with the internal tide. No significant eddy flux of water transport (tidal rectification) is observed at the eastern section, contrary to the almost 50% of the total layer transport found by Bryden et al. [1994] in Camarinal Sill section. Time‐dependent hydraulic theory provides a good scenario for interpreting these two independent sets of observations despite the fact that the composite Froude number does not reach the critical values predicted in the hydraulic models most of the time.