A theoretical solution for the thermohaline circulation in the Southern Yellow Sea

Abstract

Application of the thermocline equations in the thermocline areas and the boundary layer and the asymptotic matching techniques in each boundary in order to satisfy the surface and bottom conditions yielded a theoretical 2-D solution of the vertical thermohaline circulation of the Southern Yellow Sea in summer when the quasi-statically varying seasonal thermocline (density layer) is the background density structure, the deviations from which cause the secondary vertical, circulation. The results show that the thermocline can be considered as an internal boundary or a barrier to the vertical heat advection so that in the central areas of the Southern Yellow Sea or the center of the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass (YCWM), the downwelling in the upper layer and upwelling in the lower or bottom layer form a double cell vertical circulation. The solution is similar to Hu's conceptual model (1986) in the central areas of the YCWM and is consistent with observed temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen distributions.