Impacts of Salinity Variation on the Mixed‐Layer Processes and Sea Surface Temperature in the Kuroshio‐Oyashio Confluence Region

Abstract

AbstractIn this study, salinity variations in the Kuroshio–Oyashio confluence region (KOCR) are examined through analyses of observational datasets and an ocean reanalysis product, and their potential impacts on sea surface temperature are assessed by sensitivity experiments using a one‐dimensional mixed layer model (1‐D ML model). We have detected prominent covariations in near surface temperature and salinity in the KOCR during the boreal winter to spring. Further investigation revealed that such covariations are closely related to the dynamical stability of the Kuroshio Extension (KE), and anomalous warming and salinification (cooling and freshening) are observed in the KOCR when the upstream of the KE is in an unstable (a stable) state. It is found that modulation heat and freshwater transport by mesoscale eddies and large‐scale current anomalies are closely related to such observed variation. Then, we have quantitatively estimated the impacts of these salinity variations on local density by a detailed decomposition of total anomaly fields. Although the total density anomalies are dominated by contributions from temperature, the salinity contribution has sizable magnitude especially in the northern part of the KOCR, where the background temperature is low and the dependence of density on temperature variations is weak. To further quantify the impact of salinity anomalies, we conducted a series of sensitivity experiments utilizing the 1‐D ML model. The results from these experiments revealed that salinity anomalies significantly alter the strength of vertical mixing and eventually lead to differences in sea surface temperature of approximately 1.0°C.