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Diurnal Baroclinic Shelf Waves in the Area of the South Kuril Islands Observed in TOPEX/Poseidon Satellite Altimetry Data

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Abstract

Coastal zones supporting diurnal shelf waves near the South Kuril Islands were determined based on the analysis of small-scale amplitude and phase variations of diurnal O1 and K1 tidal waves estimated from along-track TOPEX/Poseidon altimetry data. The amplitudes and phases of these waves were revealed not only along the original tracks (1992–2002), but also along those shifted by half the intertrack distance (2002–2005). This made it possible to more accurately determine the zone supporting diurnal shelf waves. It was found that diurnal shelf waves in the form of baroclinic coastal trapped modes strongly influence tidal motions on the oceanic shelf of Urup and Iturup islands. Two wavelengths fit in this section of the shelf (one pair of quasi-stationary eddies is localized on the shelf of Urup Island and a second one on the shelf of Iturup Island). This is an unexpected result, as barotropic shelf modes usually form one pair of eddies (for example, on the northeastern shelf of Sakhalin Island, on the northern shelf of Hokkaido Island and on the oceanic shelf of the North Kuril Islands). We found that the zone of K1 and O1 tidal waves start from Chirpoi Island, which means that shelf waves are generated as a result of the diffraction of a large-scale Kelvin tidal wave in the deep Bussol Strait. The existence of the lower frequency O1 tidal shelf wave was found not only on the shelf of Urup and Iturup islands, but also on the shelf of Shikotan Island, which is consistent with the earlier results of Yefimov and Rabinovich (1980). Diurnal shelf waves cause significant increases in the O1 and K1 amplitudes on the coast of Iturup Island (especially at its southern part) and on Urup Island in comparison with the open ocean, and produce strong instrumentally-observed diurnal tidal currents in these regions. Baroclinic diurnal shelf (coastal trapped) waves also contribute to vertical movements, forcing water temperature variations at sufficiently great depths, which can have a significant impact on the living conditions of benthic communities.

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Data availability

Satellity altimetry data were taken from the website http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov.

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Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely thank Fred Stephenson (Institute of Ocean Sciences, Sidney, BC, Canada) for editing this manuscript and for many helpful suggestions.

Funding

The study was carried out as part of the state task of the Sakhalin Branch of the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (SakhNIRO) “State monitoring of aquatic biological resources and their habitat”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sakhalin Branch of the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (SakhNIRO), 196 Kosomolskaya Str., 693022, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia

    Georgy Shevchenko & Alexander Tsoi

  2. Institute of Marine Geology and Geophysics, FEB RAS, 1-B Nauki Str., 693023, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia

    Georgy Shevchenko

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  1. Georgy Shevchenko
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G.Shevchenko wrote the main manuscript text and A.tsoy prepared figures for paper. Both authors reviewed the manuscript

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Correspondence to Georgy Shevchenko.

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Shevchenko, G., Tsoi, A. Diurnal Baroclinic Shelf Waves in the Area of the South Kuril Islands Observed in TOPEX/Poseidon Satellite Altimetry Data. Pure Appl. Geophys. 181, 391–408 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-023-03410-y

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