Abstract
Using a temperature data set from 1961 to 1990, we estimated the monthly distribution of the vertically integrated heat content in the East China Sea. We then drew the monthly map of the horizontal heat transport, which is obtained as the difference between the vertically integrated heat content and the surface heat flux. We anticipate that its distribution pattern is determined mainly due to the advection by the ocean current if it exists stably in the East China Sea. The monthly map of the horizontal heat transport showed the existence of the Taiwan-Tsushima Warm Current System (TTWCS) at least from April to August. The T-S (temperature-salinity) analysis along the path of TTWCS indicated that the TTWCS changes its T-S property as it flows in the East China Sea forming the Tsushima Warm Current water. The end members of the Tsushima Warm Current water detected in this study are water masses in the Taiwan Strait and the Kuroshio surface layer, the fresh water from the mainland of China, and the southern tip of the Yellow Sea Cold Water extending in the northern part of the East China Sea.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Fang, G., B. Zhao and Y. Zhu (1991): Water volume transport through the Taiwan Strait and the continental shelf of the East China Sea measured with current meters. p. 345–358. In Oceanography of Asian Marginal Seas, ed. by K. Takano, Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Hirose, N., H.-C. Lee and J.-H. Yoon (1998): Surface heat flux in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. J. Phys. Oceanogr. (in press).
Hsuch, Y., H.-J. Lie and H. Ichikawa (1996): On the branching of the Kuroshio west of Kyushu. J. Geophys. Res., 101, 3851–3857.
Huh, O. K. (1982): Spring season flow of the Tsushima Current and its separation from the Kuroshio: Satellite evidence. J. Geophys. Res., 87, 9687–9693.
Isobe, A. (1999): On the origin of the Tsushima Warm Current and its seasonality. Cont. Shelf Res., 19, 117–133.
Lie, H.-J. and C.-H. Cho (1994): On the origin of the Tsushima Warm Current. J. Geophys. Res., 99, 25081–25091.
Nakao, T. (1977): Oceanic variability in relation to fisheries in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. J. Fac. Mar. Sci. Technol., Tokai Univ., Special Number, 199–367.
Ogawa, Y. (1983): Seasonal changes in temperature and salinity of water flowing into the Japan Sea through the Tsushima Strait. Bull. Japan. Soc. Fish. Oceanogr., 43, 1–8 (in Japanese).
Tawara, S. and T. Yamagata (1991): Seasonal formation of bottom water in the Yellow Sea and its interannual variability. Umi to Sora (Sea and Sky), 66, 273–282 (in Japanese).
Uda, M. (1934): Hydrographical researches on the normal monthly conditions in the Japan Sea, the Yellow Sea, and the Okhotsk Sea. J. Imp. Fish. Exp. Sta., 5, 191–236 (in Japanese).
Yamashio, T., A. Maeda and M. Sakurai (1993): Mean position and deviation of the Kuroshio axis in the East China Sea. Umi to Sora (Sea and Sky), 69, 125–134 (in Japanese).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Isobe, A. The Taiwan-Tsushima Warm Current System: Its Path and the Transformation of the Water Mass in the East China Sea. Journal of Oceanography 55, 185–195 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007837912348
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007837912348