The Four Patterns of the East Branch of the Kuroshio Bifurcation in the Luzon Strait

Ruili Sun,Fangguo Zhai,Yanzhen Gu

doi:10.3390/w10121822

Ruili Sun, Fangguo Zhai + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/w10121822

Copy DOI

Journal: Water	Publication Date: Dec 10, 2018
Citations: 4	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Zhejiang Gongshang University, Ocean University of China

Abstract

Based on the self-organizing map (SOM) method, a suite of satellite measurement data, and Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) reanalysis data, the east branch of the Kuroshio bifurcation is found to have four coherent patterns associated with mesoscale eddies in the Pacific Ocean: anomalous southward, anomalous eastward, anomalous northward, and anomalous westward. The robust clockwise cycle of the four patterns causes significant intraseasonal variation of 62.2 days for the east branch. Furthermore, the study shows that the four patterns of the east branch of the Kuroshio bifurcation can influence the horizontal and vertical distribution of local sea temperature.

Highlights

The Kuroshio, which is the strongest western boundary current in the Northwest Pacific (NWP), originates from the North Equatorial Current (NEC)
The four patterns of the east branch are dominated by single and dipole eddy structure, which is very similar to the sea surface height (SSH) variability east of the Taiwan Island [33,34]
P2 shows significantly eastward velocity anomaly, which is accompanied by an eddy pair consisting of a cyclonic eddy (CE) on the north side of 21.2 ◦ N and an anticyclonic eddy (AE) on the south side of 21.2 ◦ N

Summary

Introduction

The Kuroshio, which is the strongest western boundary current in the Northwest Pacific (NWP), originates from the North Equatorial Current (NEC). The Kuroshio passes to the east of the Luzon Strait (LS), flows northward along the Taiwan Island into the East China Sea, and returns to the Pacific Ocean through the Tokara Strait. Affected by the Kuroshio, monsoon, mesoscale eddies, and topography, the circulation in the LS is very complicated, and has been studied extensively in previous literatures [8,9,12]. These studies have discussed the interaction between the Kuroshio and mesoscale eddies: (1) the Kuroshio can generate mesoscale eddies by its own variation [11,13]; (2) the Kuroshio can affect mesoscale eddies in the NWP into the South China

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion