Characteristics of water mass under the surface mixed layer in Tsushima Straits and the southwestern Japan Sea in autumn

Two different cold waters were found under the surface mixed layer in Tsushima Straits and the southwestern Japan Sea in autumn 2004. One is cold saline water with a low concentration of dissolved oxygen, and the other is cold less saline water with a high concentration of dissolved oxygen. The older saline water originates from the bottom of the East China Sea, strongly influenced by the Kuroshio water with high salinity. The bottom density in the eastern channel of the Tsushima Straits is coincident with that of the East China Sea in autumn, corresponding to the season when the cold saline water was frequently found in the Tsushima Straits. The newer less saline water originates from the front of Tsushima Warm Current between the Tsushima Warm Current water and the surface cold water in the Japan Sea. This water is formed by subduction above the isopycnal surface from the front of the Tsushima Warm Current.     

Supply of Heat by Tsushima Warm Current in the East Sea (Japan Sea)

A significant surface net heat loss appears around the Kuroshio and the Tsushima Warm Current regions. The area where the surface heat loss occurs should require heat to be supplied by the current to maintain the long-term annual heat balance. Oceanic heat advection in these regions plays an important role in the heat budget. The spatial distribution of the heat supply by the Tsushima Warm Current near the surface was examined by calculating the horizontal heat supply in the surface layer of the East Sea (the Japan Sea) (ESJS), directly from historical sea surface temperature and current data. We have also found a simple estimation of the effective vertical scale of heat supply by the current to compensate net heat loss using the heat supplied by the current in the surface 10 m layer. The heat supplied by the current for the annual heat balance was large in the Korea/Tsushima Strait and along the Japanese Coast, and was small in the northwestern part of the ESJS. The amount of heat supplied by the current was large in the northwestern part and small in the south-eastern part of the ESJS. These features suggest that the heat supplied by the Tsushima Warm Current is restricted to near the surface around the northeastern part and extends to a deeper layer around the southeastern part of the ESJS. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

东海对马暖流水来源的数值模拟

本文通过二维数值模拟对1986年6月～1988年12月东海对马暖流水的来源问题进行了初步探讨,结果得出东海对马暖流水的来源基本上分为三种类型:(1)东海对马暖流水主要为东海黑潮水继续北上部分构成;(2)东海对马暖流水由东海黑潮水、东海陆架水以及东海北部黄海大陆沿岸水几部分混合而成;(3)东海对马暖流水几乎全部由东海北部的黄海大陆沿岸水构成。模拟与实测结果基本一致.     

The Current System in the Yellow and East China Seas

During the 1990s, our knowledge and understanding of the current system in the Yellow and East China Seas have grown significantly due primarily to new technologies for measuring surface currents and making high-resolution three-dimensional numerical model calculations. One of the most important new findings in this decade is direct evidence of the northward current west of Kyushu provided by satellite-tracked surface drifters. In the East China Sea shelf region, these recent studies indicate that in winter the Tsushima Warm Current has a single source, the Kuroshio Branch Current in the west of Kyushu, which transports a mixture of Kuroshio Water and Changjiang River Diluted Water northward. In summer the surface Tsushima Warm Current has multiple sources, i.e., the Taiwan Warm Current, the Kuroshio Branch Current to the north of Taiwan, and the Kuroshio Branch Current west of Kyushu. The summer surface circulation pattern in the East China Sea shelf region changes year-to-year corresponding to interannual variations in Changjiang River discharge. Questions concerning the Yellow Sea Warm Current, the Chinese Coastal Current in the Yellow Sea, the current field southwest of Kyushu, and the deep circulation in the Okinawa Trough remain to be addressed in the next decade. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

黄海、东海表、上层实测流分析

根据迄今为止所获得的142套锚碇浮标和58套卫星跟踪漂流浮标的大范围测流资料，综合分析了黄海、东海表、上层环流。研究结果更加清晰、形象、直观地展示了黑潮及其向对马暖流的分支，台湾暖流的分叉，和黄海暖流、长江冲淡水及涡旋发达海区的若干主要特征。     

应用对应分析法划分夏季东海水团的初步研究

本文所用资料主要是日本气象厅等单位于1966年7月10日一8月10日所收集的溫、盐度和溶解氧的观测資料,共75个测站。测站分布均匀且遍及24°—32°N的整个东海海域(图1c)。     

Thermal fronts and cross-frontal heat flux in the southern Huanghai Sea and the East China Sea

Synoptic features in/around thermal fronts and cross-frontal heat fluxes in the southern Huanghai./Yellow Sea and East China Sea （HES） were examined using the data collected from four airborne expendable bathythermograph surveys with horizontal approxmately 35 km and vertical 1 m（from the surface to 400 m deep） spacings. Since the fronts are strongly affected by HES current system, the synoptic thermal features in/around them represent the interaction of currents with surrounding water masses. These features can not be obtained from climatological data. The identified thermal features are listed as follows ： （ 1 ） multiple boundaries of cold water, asymmetric thermocline intrusion, locally-split front by homogeneous water of approxmately 18 ℃, and mergence of the front by the Taiwan Warm Current in/around summertime southern Cheju - Changjiang/Yangtze front and Tsushima front; （2） springtime frontal eddy-like feature around Tsushima front; （3） year-round cyclonic meandering and summertime temperature-inversion at the bottom of the surface mixed layer in Cheju - Tsushima front; and （4） multistructure of Kuroshio front. In the Kuroshio front the mean variance of vertical temperature gradient is an order of degree smaller than that in other HES fronts. The southern Cheju- Changjiang front and Cheju -Tsushima front are connected with each other in the summer with comparable cross-frontal temperature gradient. However, cross-frontal heat flux and lateral eddy diffusivity are stronger in the southern Cheju - Changjiang front. The cross-frontal heat exchange is the largest in the mixing zone between the modified Huanghai Sea bottom cold water and the Tsushima Warm Current, which is attributable to enhanced thermocline intrusions.     

应用对应分析法划分夏季东海水团的初步研究

本文综合分析四个断面16个标准层的因子点聚,表明在整个海区有九个水团,即:黑潮表层水、黑潮次表层水、黑潮中层水、黑潮深层水、大陆沿岸水、台湾暖流水、黄海水、对马暖流水和东海混合水,前6个水团是该海区的主要水团。本文还详细讨论了每个水团的分布特征。     

南黄海暖流水的温、盐度分布特征

在南黄海的东南部，有一支较强的高温、高盐水入侵，这一水体通常称为黄海暖流，也有人称之为南黄海高盐水。从环流和水团的结构来看，这一水体来源于济州岛东南的对马暖流，我们则称之为南黄海暖流水。本文试图从水团分析角度研究这一水体的温、盐度分布基本特征。 南黄海暖流水自对马暖流分出后，沿西北方向侵入南黄海，对黄海、渤海、东海的海洋环境有着重大的影响。也更因其高温特征，携带大量热量，对我国沿海地区和朝鲜半岛的气候也有一定的影响。所以，它很早就引起了国内外海洋学界的重视。我国曾于六十年代初期对黄海暖流作过研究，但研究海区仅局限于124°E以西海域。 本文引用的海洋观测资料包括中国和南朝鲜在1976-1979年间在南黄海及其东部邻近海区的(双月)调查资料(共计141个测站)。研究海区向东扩至128°E 。     

A Numerical Modeling of the Upper and the Intermediate Layer Circulation in the East Sea

Circulation in the upper and the intermediate layer of the East Sea is investigated by using a fine resolution, ocean general circulation model. Proper separation of the East Korean Warm Current from the coast is achieved by adopting the isopycnal mixing, and using the observed heat flux (Hirose et al., 1996) and the realistic wind stress (Na et al., 1992). The simulated surface circulation exhibits a remarkable seasonal variation in the flow patterns of the Nearshore Branch, the East Korean Warm Current and the Cold Currents. East of the Oki Bank, the Nearshore Branch follows the isobath of shelf topography from late winter to spring, while in summer and autumn it meanders offshore. The Nearshore Branch is accompanied by cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies in a fully developed meandering phase. The meandering and the eddy formation of the Nearshore Branch control the interior circulation in the Tsushima Current area. A recirculation gyre is developed in the region of the East Korean Warm Current in spring and grown up to an Ulleung Basin scale in summer. A subsurface water is mixed with the fresh surface water by winter convection in the northeastern coastal region of Korea. The well-mixed low salinity water is transported to the south by the Cold Currents, forming the salinity minimum layer (Intermediate Water) beneath the East Korean Warm Current water. The recirculation gyre redistributes the core water of the salinity minimum layer in the Ulleung Basin. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

日本海环流研究综述

日本海作为东北亚地区最大的边缘海,是西北太平洋上的重要海区。由于特殊的地理位置和复杂的地形,使得日本海的环流结构呈现独有特征,如日本海内的亚极地锋现象,复杂多变的涡旋,北部形成的深水团等。概述了日本海环流状况,着重介绍了对马海峡、郁陵海盆环流情形和日本海特征水团;总结了目前仍存在的争议问题,如对马暖流源头、对马暖流空间结构等;指出了目前日本海尚待解决的科学问题,如对马暖流流量的长期变化及其原因、东韩暖流消失现象及其机制、日本海特征水的传播路径及其影响因素、日本海的某些变化产生原因及其与全球变化的响应等。     

东海和南黄海夏季环流的斜压模式

基于拉格朗日余流及其输运过程的一种三维空间弱非线性理论，引进了黑潮边界力及长江径流，给出了东海和南黄海的夏季环流及上升流区的分布。计算结果表明：在黑潮西侧存在着台湾－对马暖流系统；进入朝鲜海峡的对马暖流来自台湾暖流、黑潮、东海混合水和西朝鲜沿岸流；黄海暖流主要来源于东海混合水，表面有部分来自对马暖流；闽浙沿岸存在上升流区且构成一带状区域；在长江口外、东海东北部和陆坡上也存在在上升流式；陆坡处上升流     

Hydrographic conditions in the Tsushima Strait revisited

Long-term averaged temperature and salinity distributions in the Tsushima Strait are investigated on the basis of a concurrent dataset of the eastern and western channels during 1971–2000. Both temperature and salinity show a clear seasonal variation with weak and strong stratifications in December–April and June–October, respectively. The largest standard deviations occur in summer around the thermocline for temperature and in the surface layer for salinity. This indicates large interannual variability in the development of a thermocline and low salinity water advection from the East China Sea. The water masses in both channels are distinctly different from each other; the water in the western channel is generally colder and fresher than that in the eastern channel throughout the year. Baroclinic transport based on the density distributions shows a seasonal variation with a single peak in August for the eastern channel and double peaks in April and August for the western channel. However, this cannot explain the seasonal variation in the total volume transport estimated from the sea level differences across the channels. The spatial distribution of baroclinic transport shows a year-round negative transport towards the East China Sea behind the Iki Island in the eastern part of the eastern channel. This negative transport reflects the baroclinic structure between the offshore Tsushima Current Water and cold coastal water. The corresponding southwestward currents are found in both Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) and high frequency (HF) radars observations.     

Cooling-Induced Current in the Upper Ocean of the Japan Sea

The most plausible scenarios for seasonal to interannual variabilities and their possible causes are investigated for the Tsushima Current system passing through the Japan Sea. The study is based on the north and south two-box model across the polar front in an idealized upper ocean of the Japan Sea. The boxes are connected by lateral diffusive heat transport and cooled by atmospheric forcing at the annual mean state. The south box, i.e. the Tsushima Current region, only interacts with the outside warmer box in the East China Sea and has an eastward thermal-driven current originating in the outside box. The magnitude of this current depends on the strength of the thermal gradient between the north and south boxes; the inflow of warm waters can therefore be maintained by net heat loss through the sea-surface. I call such a thermal-driven inflow process a "Cooling-Induced Current" system in the present study. Under periodical heat forcing, the perturbation response of the model to water temperature fields and inflow transport were examined. It is shown that the lateral diffusion time across the polar front (over a period of 10 years) is crucial to the interannual modeled response. An analysis of the seasonal heat budget suggests that the heat transported into the Japan Sea from the East China Sea in summer is stored mainly within the Tsushima Current region and contributes to heat loss by the sea-surface cooling in winter.     

Variability of Sea Surface Circulation in the Japan Sea

Composite sea surface dynamic heights (CSSDH) are calculated from both sea surface dynamic heights that are derived from altimetric data of ERS-2 and mean sea surface that is calculated by a numerical model. The CSSDH are consistent with sea surface temperature obtained by satellite and observed water temperature. Assuming the geostrophic balance, sea surface current velocities are calculated. It is found that temporal and spatial variations of sea surface circulation are considerably strong. In order to examine the characteristics of temporal and spatial variation of current pattern, EOF analysis is carried out with use of the CSSDH for 3.5 years. The spatial and temporal variations of mode 1 indicate the strength or weakness of sea surface circulation over the entire Japan Sea associated with seasonal variation of volume transport through the Tsushima Strait. The spatial and temporal variations of mode 2 mostly indicate the temporal variation of the second branch of the Tsushima Warm Current and the East Korean Warm Current. It is suggested that this variation is possibly associated with the seasonal variation of volume transport through the west channel of the Tsushima Strait. Variations of mode 3 indicate the interannual variability in the Yamato Basin.     

1986年7月黄海南部及东海北部海况的主要特征

本文简要阐明了1986年7月中美南黄海合作调查所得的东海北部和南黄海的海况特征。给出了2m,50m,底层及主要断面的温、盐度分布图、T-S图解、动力计算和漂流浮标的观测结果。从这些图表可以看出:夏季黄海暖流不再进入南黄海内部,但有经济州海峡重新回归对马暖流的迹象;黄海冷水团内部结构复杂,黄海的陆架锋对黄海水文要素的分布变化有重要影响;南黄海上层存在着封闭的密度环流;济州岛西南依然存在着气旋型海水运动等。     

黄、东海地理环境与环流系统分析——长江口及济州岛邻近海域综合调查研究报告(第二章)

简要介绍了黄海和东海的地理环境概况,着重分析调查海域的环流系统。有如下一些初步看法与结论。 台湾暖流的前缘混合水,可从长江冲淡水底层穿越而影响到苏北沿岸,直到32°N以北的浅水区域。对马暖流西侧的水体是东海混合水,而其东侧为黑潮分支。黄海暖流的流向在不同季节具有规律的摆动。黄海底层冷水团属于季节性水团,其强盛及消衰与温跃层的形成及消亡紧密相关。黄海底层冷水团与中部底层冷水并非每年彼此独立,它们的共同特征甚至比其差异更明显。夏季东海冷水不能借助爬升侵入黄海底层冷水团内部。在济州岛南部区域,中层的逆温、逆盐现象,是由黄海密度环流的扩散效应与东海冷水沿黄海底层冷水团边界的爬升这两个原因而形成的。     

Circulation and currents in the southwestern East/Japan Sea: Overview and review

A review is made of circulation and currents in the southwestern East/Japan Sea (the Ulleung Basin), and the Korea/Tsushima Strait which is a unique conduit for surface inflow into the Ulleung Basin. The review particularly concentrates on describing some preliminary results from recent extensive measurements made after 1996. Mean flow patterns are different in the upstream and downstream regions of the Korea/Tsushima Strait. A high velocity core occurs in the mid-section in the upstream region, and splits into two cores hugging the coasts of Korea and Japan, the downstream region, after passing around Tsushima Island located in the middle of the strait. Four-year mean transport into the East/Japan Sea through the Korea/Tsushima Strait based on submarine cable data calibrated by direct observations is 2.4 Sv (1 Sv = 10⁶ m³ s⁻¹). A wide range of variability occurs for the subtidal transport variation from subinertial (2–10 days) to interannual scales. While the subinertial variability is shown to arise from the atmospheric pressure disturbances, the longer period variation has been poorly understood.Mean upper circulation of the Ulleung Basin is characterized by the northward flowing East Korean Warm Current along the east coast of Korea and its meander eastward after the separation from the coast, the Offshore Branch along the coast of Japan, and the anticyclonic Ulleung Warm Eddy that forms from a meander of the East Korean Warm Current. Continuous acoustic travel-time measurements between June 1999 and June 2001 suggest five quasi-stable upper circulation patterns that persist for about 3–5 months with transitions between successive patterns occurring in a few months or days. Disappearance of the East Korean Warm Current is triggered by merging the Dok Cold Eddy, originating from the pinching-off of the meander trough, with the coastal cold water carried Southward by the North Korean Cold Current. The Ulleung Warm Eddy persisted for about 20 months in the middle of the Ulleung Basin with changes in its position and spatial scale associated with strengthening and weakening of the transport through the Korea/Tsushima Strait. The variability of upper circulation is partly related to the transport variation through the Korea/Tsushima Strait. Movements of the coastal cold water and the instability of the polar front also appear to be important factors affecting the variability.Deep circulation in the Ulleung Basin is primarily cyclonic and commonly consists of one or more cyclonic cells, and an anticyclonic cell centered near Ulleung Island. The cyclonic circulation is conjectured to be driven by a net inflow through the Ulleung Interplain Gap, which serves as a conduit for the exchange of deep waters between the Japan Basin in the northern East Sea and the Ulleung Basin. Deep currents are characterized by a short correlation scale and the predominance of mesoscale variability with periods of 20–40 days. Seasonality of deep currents is indistinct, and the coupling of upper and deep circulation has not been clarified yet.     

对马暖流“东海段”的流路与流速

本文全面地分析了此段海流的流路与流速结构，首次提出研究海域近底层的环流示意图。指出在夏季，韩国南岸和日本九州北岸均存在着一支南下的逆流，九州西岸出现两种或多种形式的流路。对马暖流在源地流速很弱，流向不稳定，流路时隐时显不明显，只有离开源地后才逐渐显示出一支海流轮廓；强流区在朝鲜海峡附近。该海流可明显地划分为三段。流速夏强冬弱，夏季流幅宽约８０ｋｍ。     

Seasonal Variation of the Cheju Warm Current in the Northern East China Sea

The Cheju Warm Current has been defined as a mean current that rounds Cheju-do clockwise, transporting warm and saline water to the western coastal area of Cheju-do and into the Cheju Strait in the northern East China Sea (Lie et al., 1998). Seasonal variation of the Cheju Warm Current and its relevant hydrographic structures were examined by analyzing CTD data and trajectories of satellite-tracked drifters. Analysis of a combined data set of CTD and drifters confirms the year-round existence of the Cheju Warm Current west of Cheju-do and in the Cheju Strait, with current speeds of 5 to 40 cm/s. Saline waters transported by the Cheju Warm Current are classified Cheju Warm Current water for water of salinity greater than 34.0 psu and modified Cheju Warm Current for water having salinity of 33.5–34.0 psu. In winter, Cheju Warm Current water appears in a relatively large area west of Cheju-do, bounded by a strong thermohaline front formed in a "" shape. In summer and autumn, the Cheju Warm Current water appears only in the lower layer, retreating to the western coastal area of Cheju-do in summer and to the eastern coastal area sometimes in autumn. The Cheju Warm Current is found to flow in the western channel of the Korea/Tsushima Strait after passing through the Cheju Strait, contributing significantly to the Tsushima Warm Current.