Observational characteristics and dynamic mechanism of low-salinity water lens for the offshore detachment of the Changjiang River diluted water in August 2006

The Changjiang River diluted water(CDW) spreads into the East China Sea(ECS) primarily in a plume pattern,although in some years, low-salinity water lenses(LSWLs) detach from the main body of the CDW. In-situ observations indicate that in August 2006, a LSWL detached from the main body of the CDW near the river mouth.In this paper, the effects of winds, tides, baroclinity and upwelling on LSWLs are explored with a threedimensional model. The results show that:(1) winds play a crucial role in these detachment events because windinduced northerly Eulerian residual currents impose an uneven force on the CDW and cut it off, thus forming a LSWL;(2) upwelling carries high-salinity water from the lower layer to the upper layer, truncating the low-salinity water tongue vertically, which is conducive to the detachment and maintenance of LSWLs; and(3) upwelling during the evolution of a LSWL is caused by the combined effects of winds and tides. The influences of windinduced upwelling are mainly near the shore, whereas the upwelling along the 30 m isobath is predominantly affected by tides, with the effect increasing from neap tide to spring tide.