Distributions of water masses and currents in Tachibana Bay, West of Ari-ake Sound, Kyushu, Japan

Abstract

We have investigated the water mass distribution and circulation in Tachibana Bay, which is located in the junction area between Ari-ake Sound and Amakusa-Nada in western Kyushu, Japan. This was done to clarify the mechanism by which ghost shrimp larvae, originating from a sandflat of Amakusa-Shimoshima Island, are transported. Temperature and salinity data repeatedly obtained over the area of Tachibana Bay show that relatively low salinity water lies over northern part of the bay, while high salinity water lies over southern part of the bay. The location of the low salinity water margin tends to depend on the amount of rainfall several days before the observation. A large amount of rainfall makes a clear boundary between low and high salinity waters. Current velocity data indicate an eastward mean flow just north of Tomioka, northern tip of Amakusa-Shimoshima Island, and a clockwise mean flow approaching the Tomioka Bay sandflat, which should be suitable for the on-shore transport of the ghost shrimp postlarvae. Current measurements with shipboard ADCP just west of Hayasaki Strait, at the entrance of Ari-ake Sound, show that a westward tidal residual current tends to incline to the north, with evidence of a density current in the northern part of the western Hayasaki Strait.