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The vertical mixing induced by winds and tides over the Yellow Sea in summer: a numerical study in 2012

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Abstract

In the Yellow Sea (YS), besides the energetic tidal forcing, winds also induce strong vertical mixing, especially in the summer season when the thermocline is well developed. The vertical mixing processes induced by tides and winds on the YS continental shelf in the summer of 2012 are studied by conducting different numerical simulations using a regional ocean model. Distributions of the mean summer temperature vertical diffusion coefficient reveal that winds are mainly responsible for the surface vertical mixing while near the bottom, it is mostly dominated by tides. In the near shore areas like Subei Bank and shallow regions west to the Korean Peninsula coast, the relative strong vertical mixing induced by tides could affect the YS surface. Winds deepen the surface boundary layer and strengthen the vertical mixing both in the mixed layer and below the thermoclines. It could be found that the strong wind could effectively enhance the vertical mixing by triggering near-inertial internal waves and near-inertial oscillations characterized by a first-baroclinic mode-like structure vertically in the central basin. In the near shore areas, however, the vertical mixing is mainly controlled by the reversing and rotating tidal flows. The relative high semidiurnal tidal energies are distributed uniform vertically. The near-inertial energies triggered by the strong wind are mainly distributed in the central YS, though they are weakened due to the tides.

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Funding

This work is jointly supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41606107, No. 41476002) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project (No. 2015M570609).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Ocean University of China, No. 238, Songling Rd., Qingdao, 266100, China

    Qingjun Meng, Fangguo Zhai & Yanzhen Gu

  2. Ocean College, Zhejiang University, No. 1, ZheDa Rd., Zhoushan, 316021, China

    Peiliang Li

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  1. Qingjun Meng
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Correspondence to Qingjun Meng.

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Responsible Editor: Guoping Gao

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Meng, Q., Li, P., Zhai, F. et al. The vertical mixing induced by winds and tides over the Yellow Sea in summer: a numerical study in 2012. Ocean Dynamics 70, 847–861 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-020-01368-2

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