Structure and seasonal variability of the deep mean circulation of the East Sea (Sea of Japan)

Abstract

The horizontal structure of deep mean circulation and its seasonal variability in the Japan/East Sea (JES) were studied using profiling float and moored current meter data. The deep circulation in the Japan Basin (JB) flows cyclonically, basically following f/H contours. The correlation between the directions of deep current and f/H contour increases as |▿(f/H)| increases, reaching remarkably high correlation coefficient (>0.8) values in steep slope regions in the JB. In contrast to the JB, the deep mean circulation in the Ulleung/Tsushima Basin (UTB) is generally weak and cyclonic accompanied by sub-basin-scale cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies. The UTB shows a poorer correlation between directions of deep current and f/H contours than other basins. The time-space averaged deep mean current is about 2.8 cm/s and the volume transport in the deep layer (800 m to bottom) in the JB reaches about 10 Sv (10 × 106 m3s−1), which is about four times greater than the inflow transport through the Tsushima Straits. A salient feature is that the amplitude of deep mean current in the JB reveals a remarkable seasonal variation with a maximum in March and minimum in October. The annual range of the seasonal variation is about 30% of the mean velocity, whereas that in the southern JES (UTB and Yamato Basin) is weak.