Structure of the subsurface counter current beneath the Tsushima warm current simulated by an ocean general circulation model |
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| Authors: | You-Ichiro Sasajima Satoshi Nakada Naoki Hirose Jong-Hwan Yoon |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Earth System Science and Technology, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Science, Kyushu University, Kasuga Koen, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan;(2) Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University, Kasuga Koen, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan |
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| Abstract: | The subsurface counter current beneath the Tsushima Warm Current is simulated using a three-dimensional circulation model.
The model well reproduces the counter current beneath the Tsushima Warm Current on the shelf break. The counter current appears
as nearshore parts of the subsurface clockwise circulations from spring to early winter. The clockwise circulations are separated
by developed shelves such as the Oki Spur and the Noto Peninsula, thus the counter current is not a continuous flow along
the Japanese coast in this model. The vertical structure of the counter current can be explained by a density structure with
the thermal wind relationship. The permanent and seasonal pycnoclines form mutually opposite horizontal density gradients
near the Japanese coast in summer. Such a density structure results in a speed maximum of the counter current away from the
bottom. It is remarkable that the second baroclinic mode is dominant in nearshore parts of the subsurface clockwise circulations
in summer, which are attributed to the density structure. Similar density structures are also found in some coastal regions
of the world oceans where subsurface counter currents are expected. |
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| Keywords: | Tsushima Warm Current subsurface counter current OGCM vertical dynamic mode Japan Sea shelf break |
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