Interannual variability in the structure of the Kuroshio front along the western boundary of the North Pacific Ocean associated with the 1982 ENSO event |
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| Authors: | Youhai He Dr Warren B White Dr |
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| Institution: | (1) Chinese Academy of Sciences, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Guangzhou, PR China;(2) Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 92093 La Jolla, CA, USA |
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| Abstract: | The vertically averaged temperature (Tav) over the upper 200 m of ocean in the W boundary of the N Pacific is used to detect changes in the strenght and path of the
Kuroshio Front along the W boundary from Luzon (18° N) to Honshu (34° N) during the period, 1979–1982. During this time period
the Kuroshio Front experienced significant interannual changes associated, both with the disappearance of the Kuroshio Meander
in late 1980 and with the development of the 1982 ENSO event in early 1982. When the Kuroshio Meander S of Honshu disappeared
in the fall of 1980, lasting until the summer of 1981, the intensity of the Kuroshio Front increased, associated with warmer
than normal temperatures all along the W boundary of the N Pacific from Luzon to Honshu. The amplitude of the Kuroshio Meander
was also correlated with fluctuations in the path of the Kuroshio Front at the Tokara Strait (30° N) and the Bashi Strait
(20° N), and with the amplitude of the East China Sea Meander. The East China Sea Meander occurs W of the Ryukyu Islands at
25° N, formed when the Kuroshio Current enters the East China Sea from the Philippine Sea NE of Taiwan Island. It had large
amplitude in winter and smaller amplitude in spring and early summer, similar to that in the Kuroshio Meander when it was
present during this period. It also had related interannual variability; i.e., when the Kuroshio Meander disappeared in fall
of 1980, the East China Sea Meander was weak. These results and earlier ones dealing with the Kuroshio Front E of Japan (e.g.,
White and He) indicate that fluctuations in the amplitude of the Kuroshio Meander S of Honshu were associated with similar
changes in the meandering character over the entire Kuroshio Current System during this four year period.
During the 1982 ENSO event, the temperature in the region of the Kuroshio Front in the W boundary became colder than normal,
while the Kuroshio Meander S of Honshu and the East China Sea Meander NE of Taiwan Island developed larger amplitudes. This
is consistent with the results of White and He, who found during this same time period that the mesoscale meander pattern
in the Kuroshio Extension intensifying during the 1982 ENSO period. During this time, the magnitude of the Kuroshio Front
all along the W boundary and in the Kuroshio Extension region was weaker in comparison with the three years prior to the 1982
ENSO event. |
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