In winter 1995 the last major field work of the PhysicalOceanography of the Eastern Mediterranean (POEM) program was carried out,the Levantine Intermediate Water Experiment (LIWEX). In this study a thoroughanalysis is presented of the data set collected during three successive surveysin January, February, and March--April 1995. The major overall resultis that the Levantine basin is shown to be the site for multiple, and different,water mass formation processes. Levantine Deep Water (LDW) was formed in theRhodes gyre, with the preconditioning phase starting in December 1994. Inlate January the chimney was ventilating to the atmosphere. In February thestrong mixing phase is documented by the convective cell vertically homogeneousto 900 m depth. In March--April, recapping has occurred in the upper200 m. LDW remained confined inside the Rhodes gyre cyclonic circulation.Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) is instead deeply affected by the upperthermocline circulation. Shallow ventilating chimneys with the LIW thermostadswere found in the January survey inside the cyclonic region of the northernLevantine. The formation process of LIW does not involve deep penetrativeconvection. Winter surface cooling and evaporation are sufficient to producea surface mixed layer 100 m deep with LIW characteristics. At the mixed layerbasis, LIW subducts and spreads along isopycnal surfaces along pathways determinedby the cyclonic/anticyclonic structures of the upper thermocline circulation.