scholarly journals Statistical analysis of Lagrangian transport of subtropical waters in the Japan Sea based on AVISO altimetry data

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey V. Prants ◽  
Maxim V. Budyansky ◽  
Michael Yu. Uleysky

Abstract. Northward near-surface Lagrangian transport of subtropical waters in the Japan Sea frontal zone is simulated and analyzed based on altimeter data for the period from January 2, 1993 to June 15, 2015. Computing different Lagrangian indicators for a large number of synthetic tracers launched weekly for 21 years in the southern part of the Sea, we find preferred transport pathways across the Subpolar Front. This cross-frontal transport is statistically shown to be meridionally inhomogeneous with "gates" and "barriers" whose locations are determined by the local advection velocity field. The gates "open" due to suitable dispositions of mesoscale eddies facilitating propagation of subtropical waters to the north. It is documented for the western, central and eastern gates with the help of different kinds of Lagrangian maps and verified by some tracks of available drifters. The transport through the gates occurs by a portion-like manner, i.e., subtropical tracers pass the gates in specific places and during specific time intervals. There are some "forbidden" zones in the frontal area where the northward transport has not been observed during all the observation period. They exist due to long-term peculiarities of the advection velocity field there.

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey V. Prants ◽  
Maxim V. Budyansky ◽  
Michael Yu. Uleysky

Abstract. Northward near-surface Lagrangian transport of subtropical waters in the Japan Sea frontal zone is simulated and analysed based on altimeter data for the period from 2 January 1993 to 15 June 2015. Computing different Lagrangian indicators for a large number of synthetic tracers launched weekly for 21 years in the southern part of the Sea, we find preferred transport pathways across the Subpolar Front. This cross-frontal transport is statistically shown to be meridionally inhomogeneous with gates and barriers whose locations are determined by the local advection velocity field. The gates open due to suitable dispositions of mesoscale eddies facilitating propagation of subtropical waters to the north. It is documented for the western, central and eastern gates with the help of different kinds of Lagrangian maps and verified by some tracks of available drifters. The transport through the gates occurs by a portion-like manner, i.e. subtropical tracers pass the gates in specific places and during specific time intervals. There are some forbidden zones in the frontal area where the northward transport has not been observed during all the observation period. They exist due to long-term peculiarities of the advection velocity field.


2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (11) ◽  
pp. 2985-2998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Sprintall ◽  
Sean Kennan ◽  
Yoo Yin Kim ◽  
Peter Niiler

Abstract Observations of horizontal velocity from two shipboard acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs), as well as wind, temperature, and salinity observations from a cruise during June–July 2001, are used to compute a simplified mean meridional momentum balance of the North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) at 95°W. The terms that are retained in the momentum balance and derived using the measurements are the Coriolis and pressure gradient forces, and the vertical divergence of the turbulent stress. All terms were vertically integrated over the surface turbulent layer. The K-profile parameterization (KPP) prescribed Richardson number (Ri) is used to determine the depth of the turbulent boundary layer h at which the turbulent stress and its gradient vanish. At the time of the cruise, surface drifters and altimeter data show the flow structure of the NECC was complicated by the presence of tropical instability waves to the south and a strong Costa Rica Dome to the north. Nonetheless, a consistent, simplified momentum balance for the surface layer was achieved from the time mean of 19 days of repeat transects along 95°W with a 0.5° latitude resolution. The best agreement between the ageostrophic transport determined from the near-surface cruise measurements and the wind-derived Ekman transport was obtained for an Ri of 0.23 ± 0.05. The corresponding h ranges from ∼55 m at 4°N to ∼30 m within the NECC core (4.5°–6°N) and shoaling to just 15 m at 7°N. In general, the mean ageostrophic and Ekman transports decreased from south to north along the 95°W transect, although within the core of the NECC both transports were relatively strong and steady. This study underscores the importance of the southerly wind-driven eastward Ekman transport in the turbulent boundary layer before the NECC becomes fully developed later in the year through indirect forcing from the wind stress curl.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi Dong ◽  
Xuefa Shi ◽  
Jianjun Zou ◽  
Yanguang Liu ◽  
Ruxi Dou ◽  
...  

<p>The formation of intermediate and deep water plays a key role in regulating climate changes at a variety of time scales through the heat redistribution and carbon cycling. The Japan Sea has unique water-mass characteristics in the North Pacific with its own deep-water formation within the Sea itself called Japan Sea Proper Water (JSPW). Latitudinal ventilation changes in the Japan Sea were reconstructed using radiolarian assemblage from three sediment cores, extending from the southwestern, central to northwestern Japan Sea. Here, we present downcore faunal records spanning the last 25 ka as well as other existing ventilation records in the Japan Sea, and provide reliable evidence to evaluate the potential controlling mechanism that lead to onset and interruption of JSPW ventilation. Taking all together, we argue that radiolarian assemblage records have revealed a distinct basin-scale transition in deep-water conditions from anoxic to oxic during the deglaciation related to changing surface hydrography. However, it should be recognized that there is significant potential for bias in the timing of the ventilation changes among regions. Deep ventilation in the central Japan Sea has been in an interglacial mode during the Bølling/Allerød presumably related to northward volume transport of the Tsushima Warm Current. Moreover, the decrease of JSPW Assemblage at the B/A in southwestern Japan Sea was attributed to higher export productivity, facilitating suboxic deepwater condition through enhanced consumption of oxygen, which was probably caused by coastal upwelling. In contrast, the weakening ventilation of the northwestern Japan Sea during the B/A and YD periods was probably caused by the blocking effect of the sea ice. Note: This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41420104005, U1606401) and National Program on Global Change and Air-Sea Interaction (GASI-GEOGE-04).</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsushi Urabe ◽  
Yoshihiro Kase ◽  
Gentaro Kawakami ◽  
Kenji Nishina ◽  
Yasuhiro Takashimizu ◽  
...  

Abstract The eastern margin of the Japan Sea is located along an active convergent boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. Okushiri Island, which is situated off the southwest coast of Hokkaido, is located in an active tectonic zone where many active submarine faults are distributed. Studying the records of past tsunamis on Okushiri Island is important for reconstructing the history and frequency of fault activity in this region, as well as the history of tsunamis in the northern part of the eastern margin of the Japan Sea. Five tsunami deposit horizons have been identified previously on Okushiri Island, including that of the 1741 tsunami, which are interbedded in the coastal lowlands and Holocene terraces. However, these known tsunami deposits date back only ~3,000 years. A much longer record of tsunami occurrence is required to consider the frequency of submarine fault activity. In this study, we cored from 7 to 25 m depth in the Wasabiyachi lowland on the southern part of Okushiri Island, where previous studies have confirmed the presence of multiple tsunami deposits on peat layer surfaces. The results indicate that the Wasabiyachi lowland comprises an area that was obstructed by coastal barriers between the lowland and the coast at ~8.5 ka and consists of muddy sediment and peat layers formed in lagoons and floodplains, respectively. In addition, event deposits and 15 tsunami horizons were observed among the turbidites and peat layers, dating back as far as 3,000 years. Combined with previous findings, Okushiri Island has sustained 20 tsunami events between ~7.5 ka and the present. These findings are critical for investigating the activities of submarine faults off the southwestern coast of Hokkaido, as well as for determining tsunami risks along the coast of the Japan Sea between North Tohoku and Hokkaido.


Trudy VNIRO ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 180 ◽  
pp. 156-173
Author(s):  
Yu. I. Zuenko ◽  
V. A. Nuzhdin

Recent changes in reproduction are considered for two populations of walleye pollock which spawn in the Japan Sea at the coasts of Primorye and Hokkaido. Interannual dynamics of reproduction for both populations corresponds to the stock-recruitment dependence described by Ricker curve that determines the maximum recruitment with an optimal value of stock equal to the carrying capacity of the biotope for the species and the lower recruitment if the stock is either lower or higher than this optimal value. However, instability of the Ricker curve parameters is noted, and their recent changes were unfavorable for reproduction of both populations and caused decreasing of their stocks, with sharp decline in the early 1990s. Basing on authors results and cited data, climate change in the Japan Sea region is determined as the reason of this decreasing, in particular weakening of winter monsoon. In spite of a common nature, mechanisms of the climate change influence on two studied populations are completely different: reproduction of the Hokkaido population worsened because of increasing transfer of its eggs and larvae out of the Japan Sea in conditions of the strengthening Tsushima Current, that was explained in the terms of Ricker curve as decreasing of population fecundity, but reproduction of the Primorye population worsened because of unfavorable for pollock reconstructions in the local ecosystem located in the south periphery of the Subarctic zone in conditions of increasing water temperature that was explained in the terms of Ricker curve as shrinkage of carrying capacity for pollock (from approximately 150 .103 t to almost zero level). Note that the carrying capacity did not shrink but slightly extended (to 500 .103 t) for the Hokkaido population located in the north periphery of the Subtropic zone. Features of climate warming influence onto subarctic and subtropic ecosystems are discussed.


Author(s):  
В.Д. ХУДИК ◽  
Ю.Д. ЗАХАРОВ

Приведены результаты изучения остатков фаун двустворчатых моллюсков из миоценовых отложений Южного Сахалина. Их анализ позволил выделить три бореальных комплекса моллюсков: невельский, раннечеховский и курасийский, фиксирующие периоды похолодания климата в миоцене региона. Изучение неогеновых представителей родов Lucinoma и Mya позволило обозначить среди них ряд таксонов, имеющих стратиграфическое значение. Установленное присутствие тепловодных двустворок в фаунах позднечеховского времени Южного Сахалина, очевидно, отражает собой начальный этап тенденции нарастающего потепления климата в миоцене региона с климатическим оптимумом в верхнедуйско-сертунайское время. Высказывается следующее мнение: неустойчивые климатические условия в позднем палеогене – раннем неогене северной части Япономорского региона могли быть основной причиной возникновения здесь одного из мощных центров эволюции морских малакофаун бореальных районов северной Пацифики. The results on the studying of the faunae of bivalve mollusks remains from miocene deposits of the South Sakhalin are presented. The analysis of the last ones allowed distinguishing the following three boreal assemblages of mollusks: Nevelskiy, early Chekhovskiy and Kurasiiskiy, recording the period of climatic cooling in miocene of the region. Studying of Neogene representatives of Lucinoma and Mya generas allowed identifying some taxa among them which have stratigraphic significance. The detected presence of warm water bivalves in the faunae of the late Chekhovsky time of the South Sakhalin appears to reflect the initial stage of the tendency of the intensifying climate warming happened during miocene, with climatic optimum during the Verkhneduysky – Sertunaysky times. An opinion is expressed that the unstable climatic conditions in the northern part of the Japan Sea region during late Paleogene – early Neogene could have been the main reason for originating of one of the high-potential centers of evolution of the marine malacofaunae of boreal regions of the North Pacific.


2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 1093-1096
Author(s):  
V. N. Karnaukh ◽  
A. F. Sergeev ◽  
V. B. Lobanov ◽  
P. Ya. Tishcenko

During the the 73th cruise of the RV Professor Gagarinskiy and 53th cruise of the RV Academic Oparin oceanological studies of the north-western Pacific, Japan and Okhotsk Seas were conducted. New data on the structure sea bottom, water composition as well as slope convection of the Japan Sea.


1993 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 11-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken-ichiro Muramoto ◽  
Kohki Matsuura ◽  
Toshio Harimaya ◽  
Tatsuo Endoh

A computer-based measurement system for characteristics of snowfall is described. To measure the size and velocity of falling snowflakes quantitatively, images of snowflakes were input to an image processor and the primary data were analyzed in real time. In this process, maximum diameter in a horizontal plane and falling velocity were recorded in previously set intervals, then stored on a disk. Since a lot of data were obtained during a full winter season, data had to be processed to make up a database after an experiment. Using this database, the data of the distribution of size and velocity of snowflakes can be retrieved at anytime.We observed snowflakes during winter months of 1986-92 in Sapporo and Toyama, which are located near the north east and middle of the Japan Sea coast respectively. The data indicate that the average size of snowflakes in Toyama was larger than that in Sapporo, while the number concentration of snowflakes in Sapporo was rather higher. The fall velocity tends to increase with increasing size of snowflakes, as observed in both areas.


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