Change in the Current Regime in the Suez Canal after Construction of Aswan High Dam

EXCHANGE of water between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal takes place in a seasonal pattern. A northward current dominates the Canal from November to June with maximum velocities during winter. This current is reversed in summer to set in a southward direction with maximum velocities in August–September. But the southward current is generally weaker (in velocity and duration) than the winter northward current. This pattern of circulation was established by comparative study of all available monthly observations of salinity from previous years1.