Hydrographic Features off the Southeast Coast of Kyushu during the Kuroshio Small Meanders: A Case Study for Small Meanders that Occurred in 1994 and 1995 Spring |
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Authors: | Fumiaki Kobashi Kimio Hanawa |
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Institution: | (1) International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, 96822, U.S.A.;(2) Frontier Research System for Global Change, Yokohama 236-0001, Japan;(3) Department of Geophysics, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan |
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Abstract: | Three Kuroshio small meanders off the southeast coast of Kyushu that occurred during 1994 to 1995 were investigated by using
satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface height (SSH) maps, World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE)
Hydrographic Program (WHP) repeat section and Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) hydrographic observations. Based on the satellite
data, we observed that the three small meanders are formed by different processes: the triggering and growth of these meanders
are caused by a cyclonic eddy propagating from the Kuroshio recirculation region or Kuroshio front meanders traveling from
the East China Sea. Investigation of the two small meanders in 1994 and 1995 spring that are captured by the WHP observation
showed quite consistent hydrographic features. On the nearshore side of the meandering Kuroshio, a countercurrent appears,
associated with vertically uniform upward lifts of the isopycnals from sea surface to bottom at the boundary between the countercurrent
and the Kuroshio. In the countercurrent region, the waters in the density ranges of the North Pacific subtropical mode water
(NPSTMW) and the North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) are more saline and less saline than typical waters that the Kuroshio
carries in a non-small meander state, respectively. There are indications that high-salinity NPSTMW and low-salinity NPIW
distributed off the Kuroshio was supplied to the countercurrent region. In the meandering Kuroshio flow, while there is no
notable change in properties around the NPSTMW density range, salinity of the NPIW is significantly higher than that carried
by the Kuroshio in a non-small meander state, but not higher than that in the Kuroshio at the Tokara Strait, which suggests
that saline NPIW from the Tokara Strait, less mixed with low-salinity NPIW off the Kuroshio, may be carried by the meandering
Kuroshio.
This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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Keywords: | The Kuroshio small meander WHP repeat section remote sensing |
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