Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) is a central component of Mediterranean thermohaline circulation, contributing to deep water formation in both eastern and western basins and constituting a major component of the Mediterranean outflow to the Atlantic. Its formation is traditionally associated with winter convection in the Rhodes Gyre region of the northwestern Levantine Basin, with additional episodic contributions reported from the Cretan Sea and parts of the northeastern Levantine. In contrast, the southeastern Levantine Basin has generally been viewed primarily as a region of LIW spreading and modification rather than a formation site.

Here we present observations from autonomous sea-gliders and moored measurements in the southeastern Levantine Basin indicating that intermediate water formation can occur locally and that submesoscale processes enable localized water-mass transformation and vertical exchanges. Our results highlight the role of submesoscale dynamics in shaping intermediate water formation pathways in the eastern Mediterranean and suggest that LIW sources may be more spatially distributed than typically assumed. This has implications for understanding the regional overturning circulation and pathways of intermediate water formation in the Mediterranean.