Circulation and Mixing of Water Masses of Tatar Strait and the Northwestern Boundary Region of the Japan Sea

The deep waters of the northern portions of the Japan Sea are examined. It is found that the flow regime south of the southern Tatar Strait region is generally cyclonic in the upper ocean, with only weak flows present below depths of a few hundred meters. The Japan Sea appears to be remarkably well-mixed below depths of a few hundred meters, both horizontally and vertically. Based on chlorofluorocarbon measurements, it is concluded that the deep waters of the Japan Sea have been only weakly ventilated in recent decades. Results from a simple box model suggest two possible scenarios for the ventilation of the Japan Sea since the 1930s. In the first scenario, deep ventilation of the Japan Sea was relatively weak, but constant, from the 1930s to the present, with a deep-water residence time of approximately 500 years. In the second scenario, ventilation was relatively vigorous through the mid-1960s, with a deep-water residence time of approximately 100 years; after the mid-1960s, the ventilation of the deep waters stopped. The model results are consistent with the idea that presently the ventilation of the deep water of the Japan Sea is weak or nonexistent. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Formation and Circulation of the Intermediate Water in the Japan Sea

In order to clarify the formation and circulation of the Japan/East Sea Intermediate Water (JESIW) and the Upper portion of the Japan Sea Proper Water (UJSPW), numerical experiments have been carried out using a 3-D ocean circulation model. The UJSPW is formed in the region southeast off Vladivostok between 41°N and 42°N west of 136°E. Taking the coastal orography near Vladivostok into account, the formation of the UJSPW results from the deep water convection in winter which is generated by the orchestration of fresh water supplied from the Amur River and saline water from the Tsushima Warm Current under very cold conditions. The UJSPW formed is advected by the current at depth near the bottom of the convection and penetrates into the layer below the JESIW. The origin of the JESIW is the low salinity coastal water along the Russian coast originated by the fresh water from the Amur River. The coastal low salinity water is advected by the current system in the northwestern Japan Sea and penetrates into the subsurface below the Tsushima Warm Current region forming a subsurface salinity minimum layer. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effect of the Bottom Topography on Tsunami Propagation in the East （Japan） Sea

A study of tsunami events in the East （Japan） Sea using continuous Galerkin finite element model, aiming at reproducing tsunami waves generated by underwater earthquakes in 1983 and 1993 respectively has been performed focusing on the geographic extent of a topographic feature in the East （Japan） Sea. Numerical models can be the proper tools to study the combined effects of realistic topography. Subsequently, using the FEM based two-dimensional model we have simulated the smoothed and flattened topographic effects by removal of Yamato Rise and seamounts for the cases of tthe 1983 Central region earthquake tsunami and the 1993 southwestern Hokkaido earthquake tsunami. The results have shown that there will be higher tsunamis along the eastern coasts of Korea in general except some areas, like Sokcho with removal of topographic highs, thus providing complicated bottom topography of the East （Japan） Sea as effective tsunami energy scattering.     

Intermediate Waters in the East/Japan Sea

Properties of the intermediate layer in the East/Japan Sea are examined by using CREAMS data taken mainly in summer of 1995. Vertical profiles of potential temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen and relationships between these physical and chemical properties show that the dissolved oxygen concentration of 250 μmol/l, roughly corresponding to 0.6°C at the depth of about 400 db, makes a boundary between intermediate and deep waters. Water colder than 0.6°C has a very stable relationship between potential temperature and salinity while salinity of the water warmer than 0.6°C is lower in the western Japan Basin than that in the eastern Japan Basin. The low salinity water with high oxygen corresponds to the East Sea Intermediate Water (ESIW; <34.06 psu, >250 μmol/l and >1.0°C) which was previously identified by Kim and Chung (1984) and the high salinity water with high oxygen found in eastern Japan Basin is named as the High Salinity Intermediate Water (HSIW; >34.07 psu, >250 μmol/l and >0.6°C). Spatial distribution of salinity and acceleration potential on the surface of σ_ϑ = 27.2 kg/m³ shows that the ESIW prevailing in the western Japan Basin is transported eastward by a zonal flow along the polar front near 40°N and a cyclonic gyre in the eastern Japan Basin is closely related to the HSIW. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Contraction and warming of Antarctic Bottom Water in the Amundsen Sea

Antarctic Bottom Water（AABW） plays an important role in the meridional overturning circulation and contributes significantly to global heat transport and sea level rise（SLR）. Based on the Global Ocean（1/12）°Physical Reanalysis（GLORYS12V1） products and conductivity-temperature-depth instrument data from the World Ocean Circulation Experiment hydrographic program, we analyzed the trends in the thickness, volume,temperature, salinity, and neutral density of the AABW in the Amundsen Sea from 1993 to...     

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。     

Long-Term Variations of Potential Temperature and Dissolved Oxygen of the Japan Sea Proper Water

Observed potential temperatures and concentrations of dissolved oxygen are analyzed to elucidate their variations during the period from 1958 to 1996 at Stn. P (37°43′ N, 134°43′ E) and from 1965 to 1996 at Stn. H (40°30′ N, 137°40′ E) in the Japan Sea. At Stn. P, increases of the potential temperature for the period are found below 800 m depth with the largest value of 0.16 ± 0.09°C per century at 800 m depth. At Stn. H, the potential temperature increased below 500 m depth. The increase rate has the largest value of 0.50 ± 0.18°C per century at 500 m depth and it is 0.30 ± 0.09°C per century at 800 m depth. The concentrations of dissolved oxygen increased around 800 m depth at Stn. P. At Stn. H, they increased above 800 m depth. On the other hand, they decreased below 1200 m depth at both stations. The layer of the dissolved oxygen minimum has deepened in these decades. These features appearing in the distributions of temperature and dissolved oxygen are successively simulated by a vertical one-dimensional advection-diffusion model including consumption of dissolved oxygen and termination of the deep water supply. These results suggest that the supply of the Japan Sea Proper Water into the deep layer, which is cold and rich in dissolved oxygen, has been decreasing for the last four decades. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Review of recent findings on the water masses and circulation in the East Sea (Sea of Japan)

Recent findings on water masses, biogeochemical tracers, deep currents and basin-scale circulation in the East/Japan Sea, and numerical modeling of its circulation are reviewed. Warming continues up to 2007 despite an episode of bottom water formation in the winter of 2000–2001. Water masses have definitely changed since the 1970s and further changes are expected due to the continuation of warming. Accumulation of current data in deep waters of the East/Japan Sea reveals that the circulation in the East/Japan Sea is primarily cyclonic with sub-basin scale cyclonic and anticyclonic cells in the Ulleung Basin (Tsushima Basin). Our understanding of the circulation of intermediate water masses has been deepened through high-resolution numerical studies, and the implementation of data assimilation has had initial success. However, the East/Japan Sea is unique in terms of the fine vertical structures of physical and biogeochemical properties of cold water mass measured at the highest precision and their rapid change with the global warming, so that full understanding of the structures and their change requires in-depth process studies with continuous monitoring programs.     

A Box Model of Glacial-Interglacial Variability in the Japan Sea

The Japan Sea has experienced drastic changes in the last 60 ka: the surface water was colder than the present value by five degrees and extremely freshened (24 ppt) in the last glacial maximum (15 ka), and then it contained Oyashio water for a few thousand years. It is an open question whether the inflow-outflow pattern was entirely reversed, opposite to the present exchange with an inflow through Tsushima Strait and an outflow through Tsugaru Strait. A box model is employed with two boxes representing the northern and the southern half domains in the upper (300-m-thick) layer. The model is driven by atmospheric forcing and inflow through Tsushima Strait and/or Tsugaru Strait. Here, the net transport through Tsushima to Tsugaru is given in the model. A baroclinic component is added to the net transport through each strait. It is the baroclinic components that allow the upper and the lower portions to flow to the opposite directions in the straits, and hence a reversal flow becomes possible against the net transport, under the condition of an extremely freshened Japan Sea. The fresh surface layer in 1814 ka is attributable to a near-shutoff of the inflow due to the low sea level. Shortly after the near-shutoff, the baroclinic transport through Tsugaru Strait yields intrusion of the Oyashio water into the Japan Sea. Thus, it is implied that Oyashio water existed in the Japan Sea a few thousand years after the reopening of Tsugaru Strait, even though the net transport was one-way, similar to the present state.     

Current Measurements of the Japan Sea Proper Water and the Intermediate Water by ALACE Floats

The subsurface current of the Japan Sea was observed by two Autonomous Lagrangian Circulation Explorer (ALACE) floats. One float, having a 20-day cycle, was deployed on 29 July 1995 in the eastern Japan Basin and drifted in the northeastern part of the basin until 15 September 2000. The other float, with a 10-day cycle, was deployed on 4 August 1995 in the western Japan Basin and drifted in the western Japan Basin, in the Yamato Basin and around the Yamato Rise until it reached its life limit in mid-May 2000. An anticlockwise circulation in the eastern Japan Basin was observed and it was assumed to be in the upper portion of the Japan Sea Proper Water (UJSPW) or in the intermediate water. The spatial scale of the circulation increased as the depth decreased. A clockwise circulation was observed around the Yamato Rise in the UJSPW. Smaller clockwise and anticlockwise rotations were observed in the western Japan Sea, where a seasonal variation was seen in drift speed with different phase by depth. The correlation coefficient between drift speeds of two floats indicated little coherence among the subsurface circulation between the east and the west of the Japan Basin, or between the north and the south of the subpolar front. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Water masses and decadal variability in the East Sea (Sea of Japan)

Water masses in the East Sea are newly defined based upon vertical structure and analysis of CTD data collected in 1993–1999 during Circulation Research of the East Asian Marginal Seas (CREAMS). A distinct salinity minimum layer was found at 1500 m for the first time in the East Sea, which divides the East Sea Central Water (ESCW) above the minimum layer and the East Sea Deep Water (ESDW) below the minimum layer. ESCW is characterized by a tight temperature–salinity relationship in the temperature range of 0.6–0.12 °C, occupying 400–1500 m. It is also high in dissolved oxygen, which has been increasing since 1969, unlike the decrease in the ESDW and East Sea Bottom Water (ESBW). In the eastern Japan Basin a new water with high salinity in the temperature range of 1–5 °C was found in the upper layer and named the High Salinity Intermediate Water (HSIW). The origin of the East Sea Intermediate Water (ESIW), whose characteristics were found near the Korea Strait in the southwestern part of the East Sea in 1981 [Kim, K., & Chung, J. Y. (1984) On the salinity-minimum and dissolved oxygen-maximum layer in the East Sea (Sea of Japan), In T. Ichiye (Ed.), Ocean Hydrodynamics of the Japan and East China Seas (pp. 55–65). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers], is traced by its low salinity and high dissolved oxygen in the western Japan Basin. CTD data collected in winters of 1995–1999 confirmed that the HSIW and ESIW are formed locally in the Eastern and Western Japan Basin. CREAMS CTD data reveal that overall structure and characteristics of water masses in the East Sea are as complicated as those of the open oceans, where minute variations of salinity in deep waters are carefully magnified to the limit of CTD resolution. Since the 1960s water mass characteristics in the East Sea have changed, as bottom water formation has stopped or slowed down and production of the ESCW has increased recently.     

Large Eddy Simulation of Open Ocean Deep Convection with Application to the Deep Water Formation in the East Sea (Japan Sea)

Various important features could be found on the open ocean deep convection and the subsequent deep water formation from large eddy simulation (LES), and the results were applied to the East Sea (Japan Sea). It was found that under a strong cold wind outburst with the heat flux of 1000 Wm⁻² for 5 days generates a deep convection which can penetrate to the depth 1500 m, but under the continuous cooling with the heat flux of 250 Wm⁻² the growth of a mixed layer is suppressed at 700 m. The effects of the spatial and temporal variations of the surface forcing were investigated with regard to the penetrative depth of convection, the generation of baroclinic eddies, the volume of the water mass formation, and the intensity of the rim current. The deep water formations in the intermediate and deep layer of the East Sea were explained in terms of the simulation results, and the intensity of the consequent circulation and the volume of water mass formation were compared with the observation data. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Japan Sea Intermediate Water; Its Characteristics and Circulation

In the southern Japan Sea there is a salinity minimum layer between the Tsushima Current Water and the Japan Sea Proper Water. Since the salinity minimum corresponds to the North Pacific Intermediate Water, it is named the Japan Sea Intermediate Water (JIW). To examine the source and circulation of JIW, the basin-wide salinity minimum distribution was investigated on the basis of hydrographic data obtained in 1969. The young JIW, showing the highest oxygen concentration and the lowest salinity, is seen in the southwestern Japan Sea west of 133°E, while another JIW with lower oxygen and higher salinity occupies the southeastern Japan Sea south of the subpolar front. Since the young JIW shows high oxygen concentrations, high temperatures and low densities, the source of the water is probably in the surface layer. It is inferred that the most probable region of subduction is the subarctic front west of 132°E with the highest oxygen and the lowest salinity at shallow salinity minimum. In addition, property distributions suggest that JIW takes two flow paths: a eastward flow along the subarctic front and an southward flow toward the Ulleung Basin. On the other hand, a different salinity minimum from JIW occupies the northern Japan Sea north of the subarctic front, which shows an apparently higher salinity and high oxygen concentration than JIW. However, this salinity minimum is considered not to be a water mass but to be a boundary between overlying and underlying water masses. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The diel vertical migration of the sound-scattering layer in the Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water of the southeastern Yellow Sea：focus on its relationship with a temperature structure

Using the hydroacoustic method with a 200 kHz scientific echo sounding system,the diel vertical migration(DVM) of the sound-scattering layer(SSL) in the Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water(YSBCW) of the southeastern Yellow Sea was studied in April(spring) and August(summer) of 2010 and 2011.For each survey,13–27 hours of acoustic data were continuously collected at a stationary station.The acoustic volume scattering strength(Sv) data were analyzed with temperature profile data.In the spring of both 2010 and 2011,the SSL clearly showed the vertical migration throughout the entire water column,moving from the surface layer at night to near the bottom during the day.Conductivity,temperature,and depth data indicated that the entire water column was well mixed with low temperature of about 8 C.However,the SSL showed different patterns in the summers of 2010 and 2011.In the summer of 2010(28 C at the surface),the SSL migrated to near the bottom during the day,but there were two SSLs above and below the thermocline at depth of 10–30 m at night.In the summer of 2011(20 C at the surface),the SSL extended throughout the entire water column at night,possibly owing to an abrupt change in sea weather conditions caused by the passage of a Typhoon Muifa over the study area.It was concluded that the DVM patterns in summer in the YSBCW area may be greatly influenced by a strengthened or weakened thermocline.     

安达曼海的热收支分析及其水交换研究

The characteristics of the T/S structures, water mass exchange and deep circulation in the Andaman Sea are investigated based on the simulation from a high-resolution general circulation model(MITgcm). The results show that, below 1 000 m, the water mass is saltier, warmer and more homogeneous in the Andaman Sea than that in the Bay of Bengal, attributing to the strong vertical mixing at the depth of ～1 800 m. The water mass exchange between the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal goes through three major channels, which manifests itself as follows: the northern channel(Preparis Channel) is the main passage of water mass transport from the Bay of Bengal to the Andaman Sea, whereas the Middle Channel(the south of Andaman Islands and the north of Nicobar Islands) has an opposite transport; the southern channel(Great Channel) features with a four-layer water exchange which results in the least net transport among the three channels; all the transports through the three channels have an intra-annual variation with a period of half a year. At 1 000-m depth, the entire Andaman Sea is occupied by a cyclonic circulation in January and July while by an anticyclonic one in April and October. The semiannual cycle found in both the deep circulation and water mass exchange is likely associated with the downwelling eastward-propagating Kelvin waves induced by the semiannual westerly component in the equatorial Indian Ocean during intermonsoon seasons.     

Long-term bottom water warming in the north Ross Sea

We measured potential temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen profiles from the surface to the bottom at two locations in the north Ross Sea (65.2°S, 174.2°E and 67.2°S, 172.7°W) in December 2004. Comparison of our data with previous results from the same region reveals an increase in potential temperature and decreases in salinity and dissolved oxygen concentration in the bottom layer (deeper than 3000 m) over the past four decades. The changes were significantly different from the analytical precisions. Detailed investigation of the temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and σ ₃ value distributions and the bottom water flow in the north Ross Sea suggests a long-term change in water mass mixing balance. That is to say, it is speculated that the influence of cool, saline, high-oxygen bottom water (high-salinity Ross Sea Bottom Water) formed in the southwestern Ross Sea has possibly been decreased, while the influences of relatively warmer and fresher bottom water (low-salinity Ross Sea Bottom Water) and the Adélie Land Bottom Water coming from the Australia-Antarctic Basin have increased. The possible impact of global warming on ocean circulation needs much more investigation.     

Direct Measurements of Deep Currents in the Northern Japan Sea

Long-term current measurements by means of subsurface moorings were made for the first time at seven sites in the Japan Basin, the northern part of the Japan Sea. The objective was to directly explore the velocity field in the highly homogeneous deep water mass (the Japan Sea Proper Water) that occupies depths below 500 m. On each mooring three current meters were equipped at an approximately equal distance below about 1000 m depth. Duration of the measurements was 1 to 3 years depending on specific site. This paper describes the basic data set from the moored measurements. It is found that the deep water of the Japan Basin is very energetic with eddies and vertically coherent currents of the order of 0.1 m/s. Surprisingly, the currents and eddies exhibit strong seasonal dependence even in the deepest layers of the Basin. The observed new current features are discussed in comparison with conventional deep circulation pictures derived from hydrographic data. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Comparative simulation study of effects of eddy-topography interaction in the East/Japan Sea deep circulation

In this study the structure and seasonal variations of deep mean circulation in the East/Japan Sea (EJS) were numerically simulated using a mid-resolution ocean general circulation model with two diffe...     

Variability and propagation of Labrador Sea Water in the southern subpolar North Atlantic

The variability of two modes of Labrador Sea Water (LSW) (upper and deep Labrador Sea Water) and their respective spreading in the interior North Atlantic Ocean are investigated by means of repeated ship surveys carried out along the zonal WOCE line A2/AR19 located at 43–48°N (1993–2007) and along the GOOS line at about 48–51°N (1997–2002). Hydrographic section data are complemented by temperature, salinity, and velocity time series recorded by two moorings. They have been deployed at the western flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) in the Newfoundland Basin during 1996–2004. The analysis of hydrographic anomalies at various longitudes points to a gradual eastward propagation of LSW-related signals, which happens on time scales of 3–6 years from the formation region towards the MAR. Interactions of the North Atlantic Current (NAC) with the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) close to Flemish Cap point to the NAC being the main distributor of the different types of LSW into the interior of the Newfoundland Basin. Comparisons between the ship data and the mooring records revealed that the mooring sites are located in a region affected by highly variable flow. The mooring time series demonstrate an elevated level of variability with eddy activity and variability associated with the NAC considerably influencing the LSW signals in this region. Hydrographic data taken from Argo profiles from the vicinity of the mooring sites turned out to mimic quite well the temporal evolution captured by the moorings. There is some indication of occasional southward flow in the LSW layer near the MAR. If this can be considered as a hint to an interior LSW-route, it is at least of minor importance in comparison to the DWBC. It acts as an important supplier for the interior North Atlantic, distributing older and recently formed LSW modes southward along the MAR.