The origin of the North Pacific Intermediate Water

Abstract

Possible source regions of the North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) were investigated with synoptic conductivity‐temperature‐depth surveys. In the Okhotsk Sea Kuril Basin a pycnostad (referred to as the Okhotsk Sea Mode Water (OSMW)) was found in the density range of 26.6–27 σθ. The pycnostad is not seen in the Western Subarctic Gyre (WSAG); thus it is an indicative water peculiar to the Okhotsk Sea. The maximum thickness is at 26.7–26.9 σθ (centered at 26.8 σθ) which coincides with the NPIW density range in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. In the Oyashio area east of the southern Kuril Islands and Hokkaido, waters that have intermediate temperature, salinity, and potential vorticity between the OSMW and the WSAG water were distributed, suggesting a following transport route of the NPIW source water. The thick (thus low‐Q; Q is potential vorticity) and low‐salinity water mass outflowing from the Okhotsk Sea mixes with the relatively warm, saline, and high‐Q WSAG water to form the Oyashio water. A coastal part of the Oyashio water flows southwestward along the east coast of the southern Kuril Islands and Hokkaido, retaining the pycnostad (Q minimum). A large part of the low‐Q Oyashio water flows further southward and merges with the Kuroshio Extension and then flows eastward, forming new NPIW. In this process a salinity minimum develops and the Q minimum disappears because of the mixing with a saline Kuroshio water (old NPIW) without a pycnostad in the NPIW density range. These results suggest that the origin of NPIW is the water mass in the Okhotsk Sea (OSMW) and the density of the water mass primarily determines the NPIW density centered at around 26.8 σθ.