ABSTRACT
The surface of the Adriatic Sea reads 138,595 sq. km, or 4.6% of the Mediterranean Sea area. It is of elongated, rectangular shape, stretching from the north-west to the south-east, between the Dinaric and Apennine mountain ranges that influence the dominant winds and consequent wave patterns. Surface wind waves in the Adriatic are limited by fetch and wind duration. Average width, across the Adriatic, from the north-east to the southwest is about 200 km. Furthermore, there are more than 1300 islands along the east coast that locally change the wind and wave characteristics. Sea depths are of such scale that cannot be neglected in the greater part of the basin. The shallowest area is in the north, in the Gulf of Trieste, and deepest is in the South-Adriatic pit (1233 m). Overall, more than 2/3 of the Adriatic basin is not deeper than 200 meters (Pilot book for boats, 2002).
