Yellow and East China Seas response to winds and currents

Abstract

The influences of the Kuroshio Current (KUC), Taiwan Warm Current (TWC), and surface wind stress on the Yellow and East China Seas (YES) are examined using tracers in a Princeton Ocean Model. Two experiments are performed: one with wind stress and one without. Seasonal variations in the inflow and outflow of the TWC and Tsushima Current are specified to examine the effects of the current transports. Two separate tracers are inserted into each model experiment to track the pattern of KUC and TWC waters into the YES. The two main areas of KUC and TWC water movement into the Yellow Sea are the southern entrance to the Yellow Sea trough and the Yangtze Relict River valley. Results indicate that KUC and TWC waters advect into the Yellow Sea regardless of wind stress. However, in the Yellow Sea during winter the wind stress increases KUC and TWC concentration at 20 m. The wind stress also produces short time period events that horizontally advect water masses and spatially smooth seasonally averaged water mass concentrations. The bottom Ekman layer appears to be one of the mechanisms driving the northward bottom flow across the East China Sea shelf. The bottom friction layer is stronger in summer when the TWC velocity is high. The bottom friction layer draws KUC water across the bottom of the continental shelf into the Yangtze Relict River valley and generates upwelling along the Chinese coast.