Abstract
Behaviour of outflows from a sea strait contained in a shallow upper layer is investigated by using a simple quasigeostrophic model. The outflow is assumed to have two piecewise-uniform potential vorticities and the higher one to be the same value as that in the open ocean. It is shown that this simple model can reproduce both the gyre mode and the coastal mode similar to those observed near the Tsugaru Strait, which connects the Sea of Japan with the North Pacific, and in laboratory experiments. In addition to these two modes, a coastal mode in which the current at the downstream temporally widens can also occur in the present model. The existence of these three modes can be attributed to the limited capacity of the downstream coastal current to advect the low potential vorticity fluid and the characteristics of frontal waves. The responses of the flow pattern to the changes in the outflow conditions are also briefly examined. DOI: 10.1034/j.1600-0870.1991.t01-1-00007.x
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