Index and Composites of the Kuroshio Meander South of Japan |
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| Authors: | Nikolai Maximenko |
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| Institution: | (1) International Pacific Research Center, SOEST, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, 96822-2285, U.S.A.;(2) P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia |
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| Abstract: | Using the merged NOAA National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC)/Japan Oceanographic Data Center (JODC)/Marine Information
Research Center (MIRC) historical hydrographic dataset, a new Kuroshio large meander (LM) index is introduced. This index
helps to distinguish between the LM events and other types of Kuroshio Current (KC) variability south of Japan. Observations,
re-systematized according to the index, provide composite patterns of typical formation and decay of the LM. The patterns
reveal a remarkable similarity between individual LMs and support the deterministic rather than the stochastic model of LM
evolution on a time-scale of one year. A “trigger” meander (TM) occurs on composite maps six months prior to the LM formation
as a 1° latitude southward shift of the KC axis south of Kyushu. When propagating eastward along the coast of Japan, TM gradually
increases in area. In principal the emergence of LM takes only one month. East of TM and LM a remarkable onshore shift of
the KC is noticed, supplying the coastal region with warm water. Other warm anomalies are found on the warm side of KC next
to the propagating TM and in the larger warm eddy area southeast of Kyushu. Different LMs survive for different times and
decay in some months after KC “jumps” across the Izu Ridge. Changes of water properties on isopycnals in the interior of LM
can be roughly described by two-layer kinematics with an interface at σθ = 27 which suggests a strong inflow of deep Kuroshio waters into the LM core during the formation of the latter.
This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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| Keywords: | Kuroshio large meander bimodality indices data composite |
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