Stability of the Kuroshio path with respect to glacial sea level lowering

Abstract

We investigate the changes of the Kuroshio Current in the East China Sea during the last glacial maximum, based on numerical experiments using an ocean model and geochemical analyses of marine sediments. Our numerical experimental results indicate that there was little effect of sea‐level change on the path of the Kuroshio during the glacial period. Geochemical proxy records of marine sediment cores recovered from inside and outside the Okinawa Trough (OT) show no significant difference in glacial sea surface temperature and planktonic foraminiferal δ18O between the OT and the Ryukyu forearc. This indicates that the glacial sea surface temperature and salinity were almost the same inside and outside the OT. Hence, during the glacial period, Kuroshio water most likely intruded into the OT and flowed along the shelf break until it drained out through the Tokara Strait.