This study analyses 18 years (1993-2010) of gridded Mediterranean altimetry sea level (i.e., dynamic topography) data. The analysis uses satellite altimetry data in combination with gridded monthly sea temperature and salinity data to study the steric effect on sea level variation. The surface currents are calculated from the dynamic topography data, assuming geostrophic balance and identifying 15 sub-basins. Correlation between the Mediterranean’s sea level and sea surface temperature is calculated to confirm whether or not the rising sea level has a surface thermal origin. The effect of Atlantic sea level variability on the Mediterranean sea level is also examined. The study suggests that the Mediterranean sea level displays a seasonally significant trend, rising by 1.2-3.6 cm decade^–1, and exhibits significant annual spatial variation from – 6 to 27 cm over the study period. The Mediterranean sea level rise is significantly affected by the sea level west of the Gibraltar Strait and by the steric effect. Monthly steric sea level variance accounts for 95, 91, 71, and 66% of sea level variance over the southern Ionian, Algerian, Liguro-Provençal and Catalan (LPC), and eastern Levantine sub-basins, respectively.

Mediterranean Sea, sea level change, ocean circulation.