Characteristic analysis on oxygen isotopic tracer in the East China Sea and waters to east of the Ryukyu－gunto

Samlpes of O isotopic tracer ware collected at Sections P_3, P_(25), P_(CM-1/2-E) and P_(CM-1/2-W) in both the EastChina Sea and the area to the east Of the Ryukyu-gunto during October-November, 1991.Analytical results of the δ￣(18) O are as follows: (1) In the Kuroshio area, the δ￣(18) o isolines are almost parallel to the200 m isobath. The value of δ￣(18)O is nagative and reaches minimum on the main axis of the Kuroshio,and increases on both sides. (2) In the Taiwan Warm Current (TWC) area there is a high δ￣(18) O tongue extending to the northeast. (3)In the area near the coast, the distribution of δ￣(18)O isoline shows that the Changjiang River runoff diffuses seaward andthe land-ocean isotopic effect from the nearshore to the offshore. (4) The values of δ￣(18) O are from-1. 0 x 10￣(-3) to -0.5 x 10￣(-3) in the shelf. (5) There is a low core of δ￣(18) O value (< -1 .6 X 10￣(-3)) at the 600 m layer in the Kuroshioarea, which is quite in accord with the ekistence of a low salinity core (S 34. 30) between the 600 and 800 m layersin the same area. Finally, the correlations of the δ￣(18)O with the salinity and temperature, the upwelling and so on arediscussed.(This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No. 4907257.)Yuan Yaochu et al. The Northwest Pacific circulation and its impacts on the current near the Chinese coast, 1991-1993.

Three-dimensional numerical calculations of currents east of Taiwan Island in December 1997

Based on the wind and hydrographic data obtained from the cruise of China - Japan Cooper- ative Research on Subtropical Gyre during December 1997, the Kuroshio east of Taiwan Island and the currents southeast of the Ryukyu-gunto are computed by using three-dimensional diagnostic, semidiag- nostic and prognostic models in the a coordinate. The computed results show that: (1 ) The density and velocity fields have been adjusted when time is about 15 d, namely, the solution of semidiagnostic calcu- lation is obtained. The quasi-steady state solution has been reached after 300 d, thus and the results of prognostic calculation got. (2) From the diagnostic calculation, the following main results can be obtained-1) There is a stronger cyclonic eddy with tongue-shaped in the region south of Taiwan Island, and the Kuroshio is located east of this cyclonic eddy. Compared with the results in July 1997, the position of the main axis of the Kuroshio moves eastward. 2) There is an anticyclonic eddy south of Miyako- jima, and there is a cyclonic eddy near the middle of the southern computational boundary. 3) The upwelling dominates in an area of the Kuroshio near Taiwan Island. (3) Comparing the results of diagnostic calculation with those of semidiagnotic and prognostic calculations indicates that the hortizontal velocity fields agree qualitatively, and there is a little difference between them in quantity. For example, the maximun horizontal velocities of the Kuroshio at the sea surface at t = 0 d (diagnostic), 15 d (semiaiagnostic) and 300 d (prognostic) are 88. 6, 98. 0 and 97. 0 cm/s, respectively. As to the distributions of vertical components of velocity, there are some differences between them, which shows that the semidiagnostic and porognostic results can coincide with better the salinity and temperature distributions.