Vertical structure of the field of current velocities in the northwest part of the Black Sea based on the <Emphasis Type="Italic">LADCP</Emphasis> data for May 2004

The profiles of absolute current velocity obtained by using a lowered acoustic doppler current profiler (LADCP) are presented. In the course of the BSERP-3 expedition, the measurements were carried out in the regions of the Rim Current, anticyclonic eddy, and northwest shelf. In the core of the Rim Current, a unidirectional motion of waters is traced in layers below the main pycnocline down to depths greater than 500 m. Its characteristic velocity can be as high as 0.08 m/sec. It is shown that the direct action of the eddy is detected in the shelf region at distances larger than 20 km from the outer edge of the shelf in the zone bounded by an isobath of 100 m. The formation of multilayer vertical structures in the field of current velocities is revealed in the region of interaction of the anticyclonic eddy with irregularities of the bottom on the side of the shelf. A two-layer structure of currents with specific features in the layer of formed seasonal pycnocline is observed in the region of the shelf down to an isobath of 100 m. The profiles of the moduli of vertical shears of currents averaged over the casts ensemble are presented for the abyssal and shelf parts of the sea. It is shown that the shears induced by the geostrophic currents and wave processes in the region of the main pycnocline are comparable. Below the pycnocline, the shears are mainly determined by the wave processes. Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 6, pp. 25–37, November–December, 2008.     

Resuspension of benthic fluff by tidal currents in deep stratified waters, northern North Sea

Suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentration and properties (particle size and settling velocity), water column and boundary layer dynamics were measured during a 60-d period at a site in 110 m water depth in the northern North Sea. The site was in stratified waters and measurements were made during September–November as the seasonal thermocline was progressively weakening. SPM concentration was low, c. 1 mg dm⁻³ in the surface mixed layer and maximum values of 2 mg dm⁻³ in the bottom mixed layer. The bottom layer was characterised by larger mean particle size. SPM signals in the two layers were decoupled at the start of the period, when the thermocline was strong, but were increasingly coupled as the thermocline progressively weakened. A spring-neap cycle of resuspension and deposition of SPM was observed in the bottom mixed layer. Bed shear stresses were too small to entrain the bottom sediment (a fine sand) but were competent to resuspend benthic fluff: threshold bed shear stress and threshold current velocity at 10 mab were 0.02–0.03 Pa. and 0.18 m s⁻¹, respectively. Maximum SPM concentration in the bottom layer preceded peak spring tide currents by 3 d. Simulation of fluff resupension by the PROWQM model confirms that this was due to a finite supply of benthic fluff: the fluff layer was stripped from the seabed so that fluff supply was zero by the time of peak spring flow. SPM was redeposited over neap tides. Fluff resuspension must have been enhanced by intermittent inertial currents in the bottom layer but unequivocal evidence for this was not seen. There was some resuspension due to wave activity. Settling velocity spectra were unimodal or bimodal with modal values of 2×10⁻⁴–2×10⁻³ mm s⁻¹ (long-term suspension component) and 0.2–5.7 mm s⁻¹ (resuspension component). The slowest settling particles remained in suspension at peak spring tides after the fluff layer had been exhausted. There was evidence of particle disaggregation during springs and aggregation during neaps.     

Process of the Tsushima Current formation revealed by ADCP measurements in summer

In order to clarify detailed current structures over the continental shelf margin in the East China Sea, ADCP measurements were carried out in summers in 1991 and 1994 by the quadrireciprocal method (Katoh, 1988) for removing diurnal and semidiurnal tidal flows from observed flows, together with CTD measurements. We discussed the process of the Tsushima Current formation in the East China Sea. The Tsushima Current with a volume transport of 2 Sv (1 Sv=10⁶ m³s^–1) was found north of 31°N. A current with a volume transport of 0.4 Sv was clearly found along the 100 m isobath. Between the Kuroshio and the current along the 100 m isobath, southeastward component of velocity was dominant compared to northwestward one. Four eastward to southeastward currents were found over the sea bed shallower than 90 m depth. Total volume transport of these four currents was 1 Sv, and they seemed to be originated from the Taiwan Strait. Intrusion of offshore water into the inner shelf northwest of Amami Oshima was estimated to have a volume transport of 0.6 Sv. It is concluded that the Tsushima Current is the confluence of these currents over the continental shelf margin with the offshore water intruding northwest of Amami Oshima.     

Spring thermocline formation in the coastal zone of the southeastern Baltic Sea based on field data in 2010–2013

The transition from winter vertical mixing to the formation of the spring thermocline in the southeastern Baltic Sea is studied based on data from the hydrophysical measurements program (11 expeditions) in the Russian part of Gdansk Bay in March–June 2010, 2011, and 2013. CTD measurements were taken along the standard 18-km transect across the isobaths with a 500-m step abeam the city of Baltiysk. A set of frequently measured data was collected in a 1–2 week interval from the end of March to the beginning of May, which made it possible to analyze the transformation of the vertical thermal structure of water from inverse winter type to the summer stratification with the transition of temperature over the temperature of the density maximum. Series of repeated measurements at the deep and coastal stations as well as surface and subsurface towed measurements were carried out. The fact that lenses of freshened warmer water appear at the surface almost simultaneously with intensification of cold intrusions in intermediate (10–40 m) layers makes it possible not only to confirm the advective nature of the formation of the spring thermocline in the Baltic Sea, but also to hypothesize about the intensification of intrabasin exchange when winter-time vertical mixing ceases: the potential energy excess supported by vertical mixing in the 60-m upper quasi-homogeneous layer (UQL) of the Baltic Proper, in which the horizontal estuarine salinity gradient is significant, is converted to kinetic energy of exchange currents as the mixing process terminates. Such water dynamics makes it possible to explain the intensification of intrusions in the Baltic in spring and the formation of the cold intermediate layer due to the fast propagation of late-winter UQL water from the Bornholm Basin to the Baltic Proper. The results agree well with earlier published studies of other authors.     

Characteristics and variability of the Indonesian throughflow water at the outflow straits

Property structure and variability of the Indonesian Throughflow Water in the major outflow straits (Lombok, Ombai and Timor) are revised from newly available data sets and output from a numerical model. Emphasis is put on the upper layers of the Indonesian Throughflow that impacts the heat and freshwater fluxes of the South Equatorial Current in the Indian Ocean. During the April–June monsoon transition the salinity maximum signature of the North Pacific thermocline water is strongly attenuated. This freshening of the thermocline layer is more intense in Ombai and is related to the supply of fresh near-surface Java Sea water that is drawn eastward by surface monsoon currents and subject to strong diapycnal mixing. The freshwater exits to the Indian Ocean first through Lombok Strait and later through Ombai and Timor, with an advective phase lag of between one and five months. Because of these phase lags, the fresher surface and thermocline water is found in the southeast Indian Ocean from the beginning of the monsoon transition period in April through until the end of the southeast monsoon in September, a much longer time period than previously estimated.     

基于潜标观测的牛郎海山的深海海流的低频变化特征

本文利用在西太平洋牛郎海山布放的两套锚系潜标获取的长时间海流观测数据,分析了深海的海洋动力环境特征,着重阐释了该海域海流的全水深垂向结构及其低频变化特征。结果表明:（1）年平均海流及其变化幅度均在上层最大、中层和深层次之、中深层最小;（2）年平均上,150 m以浅的海流为东向的副热带逆流,150 m以深和中层为西向流;山顶处的近底层海流为较稳定的弱南向流,山底处的近底层海流为西南向流;（3）在山顶和山底,各深度层次的海流在全年均表现出100 d左右的振荡周期;在2 000 m以浅,各深度层次的海流振荡的位相基本一致,振荡幅度在表层最强、随深度的增加而减小;在2 000 m以深,海流变化的位相与2 000 m以浅相反,振荡幅度在4 000 m最强。     

黄海在有无潮作用下对“布拉万”不同响应的数值模拟研究

黄海是典型的强潮驱动的陆架浅海。为了研究黄海对台风的响应特点,本文利用区域海洋模式(Regional Ocean Modeling Systems,ROMS)分别模拟了在有潮和无潮作用下黄海对台风"布拉万"的响应过程。结果表明,不管潮存在与否,"布拉万"经过黄海后都引起了海表面降温和流速的近惯性振荡响应,这种响应主要分布于黄海中部较深区域,带通滤波提取的近惯性流速具有垂向第一模态特征。同时,研究发现强背景潮流能显著地影响黄海对"布拉万"的响应过程。主要结论如下:一方面,由于潮的存在,近岸垂向混合均匀的较暖水体与远岸较冷水体之间会形成潮混合温度锋面,"布拉万"过后,暖水发生了明显的离岸扩张,尽管路径右侧的混合层降温更显著,但是左侧即黄海西岸的暖水扩张更明显;另一方面,潮的存在减弱了布拉万产生的近惯性振荡响应,半日潮流在黄海仍然占据主导地位。在混合层中潮流的作用减弱了"布拉万"产生的近惯性能量,但也使其更易穿过跃层传入黄海内部。     

Observations of internal tides in Uchiura Bay

Remarkable tidal currents associated with temperature fluctuations in the subsurface layer have been observed in Uchiura Bay. In order to study the characteristics of these tidal currents, we carried out current measurements in November 1972 and October 1974. It was confirmed from the first set of observations in 1972 that the tidal currents above and below the seasonal thermocline oscillate out of phase with each other and the tidal currents are associated with internal tides.In the second set of observations in 1974 not only current measurements but also serial BT lowerings were made. The phase of the thermocline displacements lagged behind the tidal currents by 81 for the semidiurnal constituent and by 83 for the diurnal constituent, and it is thus concluded that the internal tides in Uchiura Bay behave as standing waves.     

Seasonal variations in temperature,salinity and density in the southern coastal waters of the Caspian Sea

Variability in water temperature, salinity and density was investigated based on field measurements near Anzali Port, in the Southern Caspian Sea in 2008. Seasonal changes of seawater properties were mainly observed through the upper 100 m layer, while below this layer seasonal variations of the parameters were minor. Vertical structure of the temperature in the southern coastal waters of the Caspian Sea is characterized by a significant seasonal thermocline between 20–50 m depths with vertical variation in temperature about 16°C in midsummer (August). Decrease of the thermocline occurs with the general cooling of the air and sea surface water, and deepening of the mixed layer during late of autumn and winter. Seasonal averages of the salinity were estimated in a range of 12.27–12.37 PSU. The structure of thermocline and pycnocline indicated agreement between changes of temperature and density of seawater. Seasonal pycnocline was observed in position of the thermocline layer.     

Review on current and seawater volume transport through the Taiwan Strait

Patterns and features of currents and seawater volume transports in the Taiwan Strait have been reviewed by examining the results from more than 150 research papers in recent decades. It is noted that there are diverse or even conflicting viewpoints on these subjects. Here both common and different opinions are summarized. This review paper covers the studies involving in situ measurements and numerical modeling of current velocity, analyses of hydrographic data, and classification of water masses. Generally speaking, there are three currents in the Taiwan Strait: the China Coastal Current along the Fujian coast in the western Taiwan Strait, the extension of the South China Sea Warm Current in the western and central Taiwan Strait, and the Kuroshio’s branch or loop current intruding through the eastern Taiwan Strait. The current pattern in winter is quite different from that in summer, and the currents also exhibit differences between the upper and lower layers. The seawater volume transport through the Taiwan Strait is about 2.3 Sv northward in summer but about 0.8 Sv northward in winter. Both the current pattern and the seawater transport vary with local winds in the Taiwan Strait. This is particularly true in winter when the currents and the transport in the upper layer are significantly affected by strong northeasterly winds.     

Water transport across the subantarctic front and the global ocean conveyer belt

The water transport across the Subantarctic Front involving the Ekman transport, eddy transfer, and transport by the abyssal geostrophic currents is estimated on the basis of different experimental data. This transport accounts for 14 Sv northwards in the upper ocean layer (thermocline) and the same quantity southwards in the lower layer (abyss). This quantity is equal to the magnitude of the water downwelling from the thermocline to the abyssal in the North Atlantic and North-European Basin, which is realized in the field of the Global Ocean Conveyor Belt. This result agrees with the conception according to which the oppositely directed motion of the water from the abyssal into the thermocline takes place in the Antarctic.     

Ocean current and temperature structures in Algoa Bay and beyond in November 1986

Data on ocean temperature, currents, salinity and nutrients were obtained in an area off Algoa Bay on the south-east coast of South Africa during a ship's cruise in early November 1986. Satellite imagery provided information on the position of the Agulhas Current during the cruise period, while wind data were available from weather stations on the eastern and western sides of Algoa Bay. It is surmised that wind-forcing plays a major role in water circulation in the Bay and over the inshore continental shelf remote from the influence of the open ocean. The predominantly barotropic current flow, of the order of 0,5 m·s^?1, was downwind and influenced by topographic features and coastline shape. The Agulhas Current influences the ocean structures by long-term (large episodic meanders) and short-term (upwelling forced by the Current, core upwelling in frontal eddies and warm frontal plumes at the surface) fluctuations. Temperature structures showed well mixed water in Algoa Bay and a strong thermocline over the continental shelf, and were typical of a western boundary current in the Agulhas Current itself. The presence of a thermocline at 30–50 m over the shelf prevented upward mixing of nutrients. The Current exerted a dominant effect on shelf waters north of Algoa Bay.     

Observation of ocean current response to 1998 Hurricane Georges in the Gulf of Mexico

1 Introduction Hurricane is an extremely high wind event, which injects momentum into the oceanic mixed layer along its passage for a very short duration. If our interest is not at the surface, but in a depth away from the imme-diate surface wave influenc…     

Buoyancy shutdown process for the development of the baroclinic jet structure of the Soya Warm Current during summer

The Soya Warm Current (SWC), which is the coastal current along the northeastern part of Hokkaido, Japan, has a notable baroclinic jet structure during summer. This study addresses the formation mechanism of the baroclinic jet by analyzing a realistic numerical model and conducting its sensitivity experiment. The key process is the interaction between the seasonal thermocline and the bottom Ekman layer on the slope off the northeastern coast of Hokkaido; the bottom Ekman transport causes subduction of the warm seasonal thermocline water below the cold lower-layer water, so the bottom mixed layer develops with a remarkable cross-isobath density gradient. Consequently, the buoyancy transport vanishes as a result of the thermal wind balance in the mixed layer. The SWC area is divided into two regions during summer: upstream, the adjustment toward the buoyancy shutdown is in progress; downstream, the buoyancy shutdown occurs. The buoyancy shutdown theory assesses the bottom-mixed-layer thickness to be 50 m, consistent with observations and our numerical results. The seasonal thermocline from June to September is strong enough to establish the dominance of the buoyancy shutdown process over the frictional spindown.     

南海西北部上层海洋对台风“杜苏芮”的响应分析

基于锚碇观测资料,本文分析了南海西北部陆坡区上层海洋对台风“杜苏芮”的动力学和热力学响应特征。在动力学响应方面,台风“杜苏芮”期间上层流速显著增强,混合层纬向流速可达1.20 m/s;“杜苏芮”经过后上层海水运动以近惯性振荡为主(流向顺时针旋转周期在36～40 h之间)。近惯性能量在垂向分布上存在两个高值中心,分别位于混合层和温跃层深度上。近惯性能量耗散过程的e折时间尺度约为3.7 d,我们认为能量的向下传播在局地近惯性能量衰减过程中起主要作用。对能量谱的分析表明,“杜苏芮”作用期间近惯性频率能量相对于其作用前增大了约29.4倍,而全日和半日频率(K₁和M₂)能量有所减弱。此外,能量谱显示近惯性频率存在明显的“蓝移”现象,即对于纬向和经向流速分量在400 m以浅平均的近惯性振荡频率分别为1.167 f₀和1.170 f₀(f₀为局地惯性频率)。蓝移与近惯性内波的向下传播及正的相对涡度的输入有关。在热力学响应方面,上层海洋在台风的搅拌作用下,40～250 m深度均出现较小增温,最大增温幅度接近1°C;此外70 m以浅盐度的降低可能与台风过境时的降水相关,而Ekman抽吸引起的上升流则可能对70～100 m深度盐度的升高具有重要作用。     

Tidal boundary layer measurements in the presence of waves

Measurements of tidal current and wave velocity made at 0.69 and 1.85 m above a rough seafloor exhibit large current gradients (boundary layer) in the water column. The logarithmic boundary layer flow model was fitted to the measurements, and thus roughness (z₀) and friction velocity (u^*) parameters were derived. The roughness parameter values were generally consistent with the observed upstream physical roughness. The values of both parameters for conditions in the rough turbulence flow regime are generally larger (much larger for ebb) than earlier published values for similar measurements of currents in the absence of significant waves but are comparable to values from recent measurements of currents in the presence of storm waves. The high parameter values here appear to relate more to the magnitude of the current and to the upstream physical bottom roughness than to the magnitude of the seastate. Large boundary layers in the flow at the seabed have a profound effect on the design of offshore structures such as offshore pipelines.     

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.     

Oceanic response to Typhoon Nari (2007) in the East China Sea

The oceanic response to a typhoon in the East China Sea (ECS) was examined using thermal and current structures obtained from ocean surface drifters and a bottom-moored current profiler installed on the right side of the typhoon’s track. Typhoon Nari (2007) had strong winds as it passed the central region of the ECS. The thermal structure in the ECS responded to Typhoon Nari (2007) very quickly: the seasonal thermocline abruptly collapsed and the sea surface temperature dropped immediately by about 4°C after the typhoon passed. The strong vertical mixing and surface cooling caused by the typhoon resulted in a change in the thermal structure. Strong near-inertial oscillation occurred immediately after the typhoon passed and lasted for at least 4–5 days, during which a strong vertical current existed in the lower layer. Characteristics of the near-inertial internal oscillation were observed in the middle layer. The clockwise component of the inertial frequency was enhanced in the surface layer and at 63 m depth after the typhoon passed, with these layers almost perfectly out of phase. The vertical shear current was intensified by the interaction of the wind-driven current in the upper layer and the background semi-diurnal tidal current during the arrival of the typhoon, and also by the near-inertial internal oscillation after the typhoon passage. The strong near-inertial internal oscillation persisted without significant interfacial structure after the mixing of the thermocline, which could enhance the vertical mixing over several days.     

Magnitude and cross-shore distribution of bed return flow measured on natural beaches

Field measurements of cross-shore currents 0.25 m from the bed were made on two natural beaches under a range of incident wave conditions. The results indicated the presence of a relatively strong, offshore-directed mean current, both within and seaward of the surf zone. Typical velocities within the surf zone were of the order of 0.2–0.3 m/s. This bed return flow, or “undertow”, represents a mass conservation response, returning water seaward that was initially transported onshore in the upper water column, primarily above the trough of the incident waves. The measurements demonstrated that the bed return flow velocity increases with the incident wave height. In addition, the crossshore distribution of the bed return flow is characterised by a mid-surf zone maximum, which exhibits a strong decrease in velocity towards the shoreline and a more gradual decay in the offshore direction. Several bed return flow models based on mass continuity were formulated to predict the cross-shore distribution of the bed return flow under an irregular wave field and were compared with the field data. Best agreement was obtained using shallow water linear wave theory, after including the mass transport associated with unbroken waves. The contribution of the unbroken waves enables net offshore-directed bottom currents to persist outside the region of breaking waves, providing a mechanism, other than rip currents, to transport sediment offshore beyond the surf zone.     

东海南部海域夏秋季沿岸流特征

Current characteristics and vertical variations during summer and autumn in the southern East China Sea were investigated by measuring current profile, tide, wind, and wave data for 90 d from July 28 to October 25, 2015. Our results are:(1) The current was mainly a(clockwise) rotating flow, displaying reciprocating flow characteristics,and vertically the current directions were the same throughout the vertical profile.(2) The horizontal current speed was strongest during August(summer) with an average speed of 51.8 cm/s. The average current speeds during spring tides were highest in August and weakest in September, with speeds of 59.9 and 42.8 cm/s,respectively.(3) Considerable differences exist in average current speeds in different layers and seasons. The highest average current speeds were found in the middle–upper layers in August and in the middle–lower layers in September and October.(4) The residual current speed was highest in August, when the speed was 12.5–47.1 cm/s,whereas the vertical average current speed was 34.3 cm/s. The depth-averaged residual current speeds in September and October were only 50% of that in August, and the residual current direction gradually rotated in a counter-clockwise direction from the lower to surface layers.(5) Typhoon waves had a significant influence on the currents, and even affected the middle and lower water layers at depths of >70.0 m. Our results showed that the currents are controlled by the dynamic interplay of the Taiwan Warm Current, incursion of the Kuroshio Current onto the continental shelf, and monsoonal changes.