Inverse calculations using data from 16 repeat hydrographic transects collected from April 2003 to June 2007 have yielded velocity structures and volume transports(VTs) of the Ryukyu Current in the region east of the northern Ryukyu Islands.The inverse calculation results show that the Ryukyu Current is dominated by a subsurface velocity core with maximum velocities from 15.1 to 80.0 cm/s,whose positions vary between 110 and 600 dbar and 27.2°-28.2°N along the transect.The mean velocity exhibits a subsurface velocity core with a maximum value of 24.6 cm/s at 326 dbar depth,a VT of 14.0 Sv(1 Sv≡106 m3/s),a vertical dimension of 800 m,and a horizontal dimension of 60 km.The seasonal mean velocities show that the Ryukyu Current is stronger in autumn than in other seasons.It is suggested that this seasonal variation is coincident with the intensification of the anticyclonic eddy south of Shikoku,Japan.
Regional Ocean Modeling Systems (ROMS 3.0) and the κ-ε turbulence closure scheme has been applied to investigating the seasonal evolution of the thermsocline in the Bohai Sea. The simulation reproduces the stratifications lasting from early April to early September and reveals the existence of marked Asymmetric Dual-Core Cold Bottom Water (ADCCBW) in the south and north depression basin respectively under the thermocline. The bottom temperature in the north depression is about 1―4℃ lower than that in the south depression basin which is in good agreement with observations. Model results suggest that the local bathymetry characteristics and inhomogeneous net heat flux due to the latitude difference are the major cause for the early formation of the ADCCBW. Numerical Lagrangian drifter experiments support the finding that the ADCCBW is maintained throughout the stratification periods by the inflow of cold bottom water from the northern Yellow Sea and deep channel in the western side of Liaodong Peninsula. The inflow cold water contributes to the north depression basin distinctively larger than to the south one. Tidal mixing enhances the bottom temperature asymmetry between the two basins.
