Annual and Interannual Variability in the Kuroshio Current System,
Abstract
Individual, seasonal, 300-m temperature maps were constructed over the Kuroshio Current System from 130 E to 170 W, for a four-year period from summer 1976 through spring 1980, by using TRANSPAC XBT data and JODC temperature/depth data. Quasi-stationary meanders in the Kuroshio Current System occurred at 137 E (i.e., Kuroshio Meander), at 144 E and 150 E (i.e., lee-wave meanders), and near 160 E (i.e., meander over the Shatsky Rise). A composite of the paths of the Kuroshio (i.e., the 12 C isotherm) from the individual seasonal maps, and the total variance map, finds nodes (i.e., minima) and anti-nodes (i.e., maxima) of variability to have existed along the mean Kuroshio path. The anti-nodes coincided with the location of the quasi-stationary meanders, the nodes in between. Zonal propagation of temperature anomalies accounted for 20-30% of the total interannual variance. These temperature anomalies propagated eastward at .5 -1.5 cm/sec in the region 140-155 E, and westward at -1 to -2 cm/sec in the region 155 E-175 W. In the latter part of the four-year period (1979-80), the Kuroshio Meander became weak and the Kuroshio Extension was displaced southward, from 36-37 N during the first two years to 34 N during the latter two years. Associated with these large-scale changes, the quasi-stationary meander pattern in the Kuroshio Extension became unstable, associated with increased eddy activity and ring production. In fact, ring production doubled (i.e., from five to ten rings per year) from that of the previous three years.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1983
- Accession Number
- ADP002665
Entities
People
- Kei Mizuno
- W. B. White
Organizations
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography