Characteristics of deep currents off Cape Shiono-misaki before and after formation of the large meander of the Kuroshio in 1981

Deep currents measured by moored current meters over the shelf-slope off Cape Shiono-misaki, Kii Peninsula during the period from 28 April, 1981 to 4 May, 1982 are analyzed to determine characteristics of the deep current before and after the large meander of the Kuroshio formed. The observed deep currents show some different characteristics between the periods before and after the formation of the large meander of the Kuroshio,i.e.:

1. The mean current direction over the shelf slope changed to westward after the meander was formed, though it was eastward at two offshore stations before the meander was formed.
2. The eddy kinetic energy, \(ke((\overline {u'^2 } + \overline {\upsilon '^2 } )/2)\) became large at all stations after the meander formed.
3. It appears that there were current variations in the period band shorter than 10 days which propagated offshore before the meander formed but inshore after the meander formed.
4. After the meander formed, the current variations with a period of O(25 days) were amplified at two of the three stations. The current variations in this period band showed high coherence among the three stations.

Data from tidal stations showed that sea level variations with a period of O(30 days) were also amplified along the south coast of Japan after the meander was formed. But sea level variations were not coherent with current variations in this period band.     

Observations of large-amplitude cross-shore internal bores near the shelf break,Santa Monica Bay,CA

Two sets of moorings were deployed along a cross-shelf transect in central Santa Monica bay for four months in the winter of 1998-1999. Both sites had an array of instruments attached to tripods set on the seafloor to monitor currents over the entire water column, surface waves, near-bed temperature, water clarity and suspended sediment. A companion mooring had temperature sensors spaced approximately 10 m apart to measure temperature profiles between the surface and the seafloor. One array was deployed in 70 m of water at a site adjacent to the shelf break, just northwest of a major ocean outfall. The other was deployed on the mid shelf in 35 m of water approximately 6 km from the shelf break site. The subtidal currents in the region flowed parallel to the isobaths with fluctuating time scales around 10 days, a typical coastal-ocean pattern. However, during the falling phase of the barotropic spring tide, sets of large-amplitude, sheared cross-shore current pulses with a duration of 2-5 h were observed at the shelf break site. Currents in these pulses flowed exclusively offshore in a thin layer near the bed with amplitudes reaching 30-40 cm/s. Simultaneously, currents with amplitudes around 15-20 cm/s flowed exclusively onshore in the thicker layer between the offshore flow layer and the sea surface. The net offshore transport was about half the onshore transport. Near-surface isotherms were depressed 30-40 m. These pulses were likely internal bores generated by tidal currents. Bed stresses associated with these events exceeded 3 dynes/cm(2). These amplitudes are large enough to resuspend and transport not only fine-grained material, but also medium to coarse sands from the shelf toward the slope. Consequently, the seafloor over the shelf break was swept clear of fine sediments. The data suggest that the internal bores dissipate and are reduced in amplitude as they propagate across this relatively narrow shelf. There is evidence that they reach the 35 m site, but other coastal ocean processes obscure their distinctive characteristics.     

Abyssal current along the northern periphery of Shikoku Basin

Abyssal currents along the northern periphery of the Shikoku Basin south of Japan were measured by current meters moored off Cape Daio-zaki, Cape Shiono-misaki and Cape Ashizuri-misaki and on the eastern foot of the northernmost part of the Kyushu-Palau Ridge. Total length of observation off Cape Shiono-misaki was about five years including the periods of the Kuroshio large meander and no meander. Analyses of current data show:

1. Mean currents with a magnitude of 5–10 cm sec^?1 were observed during the whole observation period at all of current meters which were set 400 m above the sea bottom that was deeper than 4,500 m. The mean current for each current meter was parallel to the local bottom contour arond each station and was toward a direction looking the Nankai Trough (a trough located along the northern end of the Shikoku Basin) to the left.
2. At each station located above the shelf toe off Cape Daio-zaki and off Cape Shiono-misaki and on the foot of the Kyushu-Palau Ridge, the mean current increases with depth (a bottomward intensification of the mean current), and the vertical extent of the mean current is estimated to be about 2,000 m above the sea bottom.
3. At a station located at 2,600 m depth on the continental slope off Cape Shiono-misaki, no bottom-ward intensification of currents was observed.

These results strongly suggest that a steady abyssal flow exists in the depths deeper than about 3,000 m along the northern and northwestern peripheries of the Shikoku Basin. Existence of the abyssal circulation system is also suggested, at least, in the north of the Shikoku Basin.     

中国近海及其附近海域若干涡旋研究综述Ⅱ.东海和琉球群岛以东海域

综述东海和琉球群岛以东海域若干气旋型和反气旋型涡旋的研究.对东海陆架、200m以浅海域,主要讨论了东海西南部反气旋涡、济州岛西南气旋式涡和长江口东北气旋式冷涡.东海两侧和陆坡附近出现了各种不同尺度的涡旋,其动力原因之一是与东海黑潮弯曲现象有很大关系,其次也与地形、琉球群岛存在等有关.东海黑潮有两种类型弯曲:黑潮锋弯曲和黑潮路径弯曲.黑潮第一种弯曲出现了锋面涡旋,评述了锋面涡旋的存在时间尺度与空间尺度和结构等;也指出了黑潮第二种弯曲,即路径弯曲时在其两侧出现了中尺度气旋式和反气旋涡,讨论了它们的变化的特性.特别讨论了冲绳北段黑潮弯曲路径和中尺度涡的相互作用,着重指出,当气旋式涡在冲绳海槽北段成长,并充分地发展,其周期约在1~3个月时,它的空间尺度成长到约为200km(此尺度相当于冲绳海槽的纬向尺度)时,黑潮路径从北段转移到南段.也分析了东海黑潮流量和其附近中尺度涡的相互作用.最后指出在琉球群岛以东、以南海域,经常出现各种不同的中尺度反气旋式和气旋式涡,讨论了它们在时间与空间尺度上变化的特征.     

Upward transport of iron at the west shelf edge–slope of the Okinawa Trough in the East China Sea

We studied the behavior of chemical substances in the upper 300 m of the water column across the continental shelf–slope interface in the East China Sea off the Okinawa Trough. The behaviors of iron, inorganic nutrients, and humic-like fluorescent dissolved organic matter were strongly influenced by the extensive water exchange between the East China Sea and the Kuroshio Current across the shelf break and slope via upwelling and frontal processes. We attributed the high humic-like fluorescent intensity at the subsurface of the shelf break and slope regions to the lateral supply of humic-like fluorescent dissolved organic matter from the shelf sediments to the outer shelf region due to the intrusion of shelf water into Kuroshio subsurface water. We found that the behavior of iron at the continental shelf–slope was remarkably different from the conservative mixing of inorganic nutrients and humic-like fluorescent dissolved organic matter. In deep and bottom waters at the shelf–slope, high total iron concentrations, which were closely related to water transmittance, possibly resulted from the swept transport of iron-rich resuspended sediments over the shelf floor from the slope by the invading Kuroshio Intermediate Water close to the bottom.     

A dense bottom water plume in the western Barents Sea: downstream modification and interannual variability

The generation and downstream modification of a cold dense Arctic shelf water plume were studied with moored current meters, thermistor chains and conductivity/temperature sensors deployed from August 1993 to September 1994 south of the Storfjord in the Svalbard Archipelago. These observations are compared to similar time series from 1991/92. In 1993/94, bottom water with temperatures close to the freezing point drained continuously from Storfjord between March and September with a mean speed of 0.14 m s⁻¹. About 1.5 months after the plume front had left the Storfjord, it reached the shelf break, 150 km away. The plume had increased its width from 15 km to about 35 km, but its thickness of 50 m remained almost constant and it left the shelf edge at a similar speed. The increased volume transport and the change of temperature/salinity properties indicate an entrainment of 110% of ambient Atlantic water into the plume on its way from the production area to the shelf edge.The maximum salinity of the cold plume was 0.2 lower in 1993/94 than in 1991/92, whilst the temperature/salinity-range of the surrounding Atlantic water remained unchanged. Probably as a dynamic consequence, the speed of the plume was considerably lower in 1993/94. The lower salinity of the plume in 1993/94 is a result of both the 30% less ice formation in Storfjord, caused by lower heat flux and less open water, and a lower surface salinity at the beginning of ice formation. During 1993/94, the Storfjord plume was too light to sink below 700 m.     

Numerical Study of a Kyucho and a Bottom Intrusion in the Bungo Channel,Japan: Disturbances Generated by the Kuroshio Small Meanders

The generation and propagation mechanisms of a Kyucho and a bottom intrusion in the Bungo Channel, Japan, have been studied numerically using the hydrostatic primitive equations by assuming density stratification during summer. The experiments are designed to generate a Kuroshio small meander in Hyuga-Nada, which acts as a trigger for these disturbances. After the current speed of the Kuroshio is changed, a small meander is generated. At the head of the small meander, warm Kuroshio water is engulfed, and encounters the southwest coast of Shikoku. However, convergence of heat flux on the bump off Cape Ashizuri suppresses the generation of a warm disturbance, if the current speed is large. As the cold eddy associated with the small meander approaches Cape Ashizuri, the heat flux diverges on the bump. This heat source forces a warm disturbance, which intrudes along the east coast of the Bungo Channel as a baroclinic Kelvin wave (a Kyucho). After the cold eddy passes off Cape Ashizuri, the Kuroshio approaches the bump again. Strong convergence of heat flux then occurs on the bump, which forces a cold disturbance. This disturbance propagates as a topographic Rossby wave along the shelf break at the mouth of the channel. After the topographic wave reaches the west end of the shelf break, it intrudes along the bottom layer of the channel as a density current (a bottom intrusion). These results suggest that a Kyucho and a bottom intrusion are successive events associated with the propagation of the small meander.     

The calculation of Kuroshio current structure in the East China Sea—early summer 1986

On the basis of hydrographic data and moored current meter records obtained during an early summer cruise (May 20–June 23) of 1986, a three dimensional diagnostic calculation of the circulation is performed in the survey area, which covers the East China Sea continental shelf, Okinawa Trough and an area east of the Ryukyu Island. The Kuroshio Current condition and structure in the East China Sea, its branches and their interrelationship as well as the eddies around the Kuroshio, are discussed. When the Kuroshio entered the area northeast of Taiwan, there were two branches. The main branch flowed northeastward along the continental slope and the other branch was at the eastern part of the Okinawa Trough. The main axis of the Kuroshio followed the continental slope above the 300 m level, but moved gradually eastward to the Okinawa Trough below the 300 m level.     

Kuroshio warm filament and the source of the warm water of the Tsushima Current

Characteristics and evolution of the Kuroshio frontal eddies and warm filaments are analyzed according to two series of satellite images (March 5 to 7, 1986 and April 14 to 16, 1988). The results show that the frontal eddies in the East China Sea are generated at the shelf break and move along the continental slope at a speed of 15 cm/s with the Kuroshio. The frontal eddies occur about every 10 d and evolve to be warm filaments a few hundred km in length and 30-40 km in width in the area west of the Yaku-shima. Meanwhile, the existence of the warm filament was also found in the area by analysing the hydrographic data in the area west of Kyushu during May 24-June 5, 1988.The Kuroshio warm filaments move westward opposite to the Kuroshio and then turn northward at the shelf break and become the main source of the warm water of the Tsushima Warm Current. A simple dynamic explanation for the process is presented in this paper.     

东海海洋锋的波动及演变特征

本文利用近十年来获得的ＮＯＡＡ卫星红外影像，较为系统地分析了东海海洋锋（黑潮锋、对马暖流锋和浙江沿岸锋）的波动谱特征以及形态的演变。同时还利用浮标测流结果分析了锋面波动中的流态。分析结果表明：东海黑潮锋通常存在４～５个折叠波形，其波长平均约２００ｋｍ，波动随黑潮流向东北方向传播，速度约１６ｃｍ／ｓ。浙江沿岸锋的波动多呈锯齿形，其波长较短，波数多。在浙江沿岸锋波动发展过程中，其波长从开始的２０～４０ｋｍ发展成３０～６０ｋｍ，它们约以１８ｃｍ／ｓ的速度向东北方向传播。东海海洋锋波动演变形态复杂，其中黑潮锋的波动可能演变成锋面涡旋、暖丝和暖环。     

Barotropic tide in the northeast South China Sea

A moored array deployed across the shelf break in the northeast South China Sea during April-May 2001 collected sufficient current and pressure data to allow estimation of the barotropic tidal currents and energy fluxes at five sites ranging in depth from 350 to 71 m. The tidal currents in this area were mixed, with the diurnal O1 and K1 currents dominant over the upper slope and the semidiurnal M2 current dominant over the shelf. The semidiurnal S2 current also increased onshelf (northward), but was always weaker than O1 and K1. The tidal currents were elliptical at all sites, with clockwise turning with time. The O1 and K1 transports decreased monotonically northward by a factor of 2 onto the shelf, with energy fluxes directed roughly westward over the slope and eastward over the shelf. The M2 and S2 current ellipses turned clockwise and increased in amplitude northward onto the shelf. The M2 and S2 transport ellipses also exhibited clockwise veering but little change in amplitude, suggesting roughly nondivergent flow in the direction of major axis orientation. The M2 energy flux was generally aligned with the transport major axis with little phase lag between high water and maximum transport. These barotropic energy fluxes are compared with the locally generated diurnal internal tide and high-frequency internal solitary-type waves generated by the M2 flow through the Luzon Strait.     

夏季流经东沙群岛北侧的一支偏西向海流

主要根据1992年8月中国科学院南海海洋研究所和香港理工大学合作进行的“南海环流试验”的调查资料，并引用中国科学院南海海洋研究所1982年7月、1985年8月在南海东北部的调查资料、黑潮合作调查（CSK）的资料，通过温、盐度分布特征的分析，并结合动力计算结果，指出夏季在南海东沙群岛北侧存在着一偏西向海流，它的流动路径与文献[5－7]中所说的南海黑潮分支的流动路径显著不同。对夏季南海海流的三维数值模拟也得到了相似的结果。     

Currents in the Luzon Strait during the spring of 2002: observation and computation by modified inverse model

On the basis of the current measurements at 200,500 and 800 m from moored current meters with the time series data from March 17 to April 15 at the mooring station (20°49′57″N, 120°48′ 12″E) and the hydrographic data obtained in the Luzon Strait during the spring of 2002 cruise, the circulation in the investigated     

流核位置和流量变化对东海黑潮锋面弯曲影响的研究

本文运用简化的η坐标POM模式研究了东海黑潮锋面弯曲的产生与成长机制。主要考察了在给定的地形下,流核位置和流量变化对锋面演变的影响。当黑潮流核远离陆架时,因其锋区正好在陡的陆坡之上,斜压不稳定贡献减小,此时不论黑潮的流量强弱,其锋面都不会出现如观测所示的弯曲;当黑潮流核接近陆架时,因其锋区爬上陆架,斜压不稳定加强,小扰动能够充分发展并导致锋面弯曲,它的三维结构和观测的结果基本一致。平均波长约为250km,位相速度约为17km／d。扰动成长的主要机制是斜压不稳定,锋面弯曲的主要能源是平均有效位能。     

台湾东北海域夏季冷穹及上升流的数值模拟

夏季,黑潮在台湾东北向东海陆架的入侵表现为黑潮次表层水的强烈涌升,并在陆架上形成明显的冷穹。本研究利用ROMS(Regional Ocean Modeling System)模式,模拟了夏季黑潮入侵所形成的冷穹及上升流的三维结构,并讨论了上升流形成的动力机制。结果表明,冷穹中心在50 m以上的深度位于25.5°N,122.5°E附近,最大降温5 ℃以上;在50 m以下的深度,冷穹的中心位于台湾岛北缘。表层黑潮在台湾北缘不存在明显入侵,在陆坡东向转向附近则以气旋式环流入侵至陆架以上。此外,上升流主要位于陆坡坡度最大的区域,且黑潮次表层水的涌升存在两个较为明显的路径,分别位于台湾岛以北的100 m与200 m等深线之间以及东向转向的陆坡区域。在上层,平流作用是上升流产生的主要机制;而在近底层,平流作用与底摩擦都对上升流有贡献。     

Slope-Current fluctuations northeast of Taiwan winter 1990

During the winter of 1990, two current-meter moorings were deployed in the outer shelf region across a canyon northeast of Taiwan. The data indicate that a steady flow exists in the southward, along-slope direction, opposite to the nearby northward-flowing Kuroshio current. Tides run transverse to the mean flow. Fluctuations in subtidal current mostly occur on the south side of the canyon, concentrated in the synoptic (2–4 days) band and oriented in the cross-slope direction. From the nearby winds and coastal sea-level observations, it is clear that the rotating-wind field associated with the passage of winter cold front is responsible for generating the observed energetic fluctuations. The northeasterly monsoon wind is very effective in piling up water against the northern coast of Taiwan and establishing an out-flowing geostrophic current. Trailing wind behind the high-pressure system has exactly the opposite effect. The investigation suggests that due to the winter-weather pattern, the area northeast of Taiwan is an important region for water exchange between the East China Sea and the Kuroshio.     

A consideration on the mechanism of generation,stagnation and disappearance of the kuroshio Meander

A mechanism of the Kuroshio Meander is discussed by comparing some observed characteristics of the Kuroshio path with short- and long-term variations of the wind field over the North Pacific. It is suggested that the meander is caused by the blocking of the Kuroshio current by the Izu-Ogasawara Ridge. The blocking occurs when the depth of the main current increases or when the vertical shear becomes weak. These structural variations are closely related to the supposed baroclinic response of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre to long-term variations of the wind field with a period of about 56 years. The Kuroshio Meander is initiated by a trigger meander at the offiing of Shikoku Island. The trigger meander is closely related to the supposed barotropic response of the gyre to short-term variations of the wind field with a period of about 34 months.The barotropic response of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre to the short-term variation of the wind field yields the rapid change of the vertical structure of the Kuroshio current. This change generates the trigger meander in combination with the complicated pattern of the continental slope at the offing of Shikoku Island. The trigger meander is carried away toward the Izu-Ogasawara Ridge by the Kuroshio current. When the baroclinic response of the gyre is favourable for the blocking of the main current, the trigger meander and the cold eddy grow fed by the upwelling of the deep water of the Kuroshio which is blocked at the west of the ridge. The growing stops when the scale of the trigger meander reaches to the size of the steady Rossby wave which corresponds to the over-all mean velocity of the Kuroshio at that time, because the meander exceeding the size of the steady Rossby wave moves west-ward and separates from the ridge. Then the deep water of the Kuroshio at the west of the ridge which has been under the hard constraint of the cyclonic circulation in the form of the cold eddy becomes possible to flow arround the ridge. The upwelling stops and there remains only the general dissipation process of the available potential energy in the cold eddy. Then the meander gradually decreases its size and returns to the ridge when the meander becomes smaller than the steady Rossby wave at that time. It is blocked and begins to grow there again. In this way, the Kuroshio Meander behaves as a quasi-steady Rossby wave and stagnates at the west of the ridge until the baroclinic response of the gyre becomes unfavourable for the blocking of the Kuroshio current by the ridge.     

Hydrographic profiling across the East China sea shelf edge by an underwater sliding vehicle with CTD sensors

Temperature, salinity and density structures were observed on Sept. 23 and 24, 1986 at one vertical section across the East China Sea shelf edge by an advanced type of towed vehicle with CTD sensors which was developed by the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center. The vehicle was towed at a speed of 2.5 m s⁻¹ down to 150 m depth and at intervals of 170–500 m width. The observed profile was 50 km long on Sept. 23 and 70 km long on Sept. 24 along the cross-shelf section. An on-ship acoustic Doppler current profiler was simultaneously used to measure current velocities at depths of 20, 50 and 100 m.Interesting features were noticed. Firstly, there was a vertical displacement of pycnoclines at the lower edge of the surface mixed layer accompanied by vertical inversion of the salinity and temperature in the vicinity of the shelf edge. Pycnoclines were displaced upward by 12 m toward the outer edge on Sept. 23 and by 20 m on Sept. 24. On Sept. 23, the salinity inversion took place in a layer 20 m thick and 8 km wide, whereas the temperature inversion took place in a layer 8 m thick and 1.5 km wide. These vertical inversions were probably generated by vertical shear of tidal currents which was observed by the Doppler current profiler. These results throw light on understanding the vertical mixing process of stratified water on the continental shelf edge. Secondly, an intrusion of the shelf water into the Kuroshio water was observed along pycnoclines below the surface mixed layer 60 to 70 m deep in the Kuroshio region outer break. The measurement was successful in showing a horizontal mixing process of the shelf water and the Kuroshio water which could not be found out by standard CTD observations.     

The frontal system at the boundary of the East China Sea: Its variability and response to large-scale atmospheric forcing

High-resolution satellite sea surface temperature measurements (PATHFINDER dataset) indicate that the fronts at the boundary of the East China Sea (Taiwan front, Kuroshio frontal zone, and South Korean coastal front) appear as a unified dominating frontal structure when climatological averaging is applied. This structure is about 1200 km in length, spreads over the continental shelf from Taiwan to the Tsushima Islands, and separates productive seawaters from the oligotrophic oceanic waters. The Kuroshio frontal zone, incorporated into this structure, reveals interannual variability with periods consistent with El Niño–Southern Oscillation (4–5 years).