Seasonal variability of oceanological conditions in the northern part of the Tatar Strait

Abstract

An average long-term distribution of temperature and salinity is analyzed for different months (May–November) computed on the basis of materials accumulated at standard oceanological sections of the northern part of the Tatar Strait. The main attention is paid to the section Korsakov Cape-Cape Syurkum crossing the water area under study practically in the middle. In early spring, the cold waters with salinity of more than 33‰ are registered at the section Korsakov Cape-Cape Syurkum. The waters with smaller salinity are revealed only in late spring, in June. In the same period, the intensification of cold intermediate layer occurs, first of all, in the western part of the section. The waters in the surface layer near the Sakhalin coast are warmed more than at the continental shelf. During the summer, this difference gradually decreases and the surface layer temperature becomes even in September. On the contrary, the spatial salinity gradients increase. In the fall, under the influence of northern and northwestern winds being typical of this period, the upwelling is formed near the Sakhalin coast and the cold dense waters emerge in the narrow coastal strip. The direction of alongshore flow changes from northern to the southern one. At the section Korsakov Cape-Cape Syurkum in November, the influence of small-salinity waters associated with the Amur River runoff is significantly revealed.