Moored temperature signals, tide gauge data and CTD profiles measured on the Sicilian continental shelf are studied. EOF decomposition and cross spectral analysis of the moored temperature data and analysis of the CTD profiles provide information on the hydrological characteristics in the area. Power and line spectral analysis of the moored temperature signals are discussed; major results are that (1) a tidally generated, topographically trapped baroclinic wave with diurnal period dominates the dynamics at all depths below the surface mixed layer. The analysis of the tide gauge data allows for evaluating the role of the barotropic tide. (2) Contrary to what usually happens in the Mediterranean Sea, the semidiurnal tide is always weaker than the diurnal component. This behavior is ascribed to the presence of an amphidromic point of the M2 tide in the vicinity of the thermistor chain. (3) A weak inertial wave component, possibly important in the seasonal evolution of the average stratification, is recognizable in the line spectra; and (4) the power spectra of temperature oscillations display a power law behavior P(ω) ≈ ω-1.8 in the frequency range of internal wave activity. © 1989.

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