The available data on tidal currents spanning periods greater than six months for the continental shelf of the East China Sea (26°30.052′N, 122°35.998′E) were analyzed using several methods. Tidal Current Harmonic Analysis results demonstrated that semi-diurnal tides dominated the current movement. The tidal currents of the principal diurnal and semidiurnal rotated clockwise with depth, with the deflection of the major semi-axes to the right in the upper layer and to the left in the lower layer. The vertical structures of two principal semi-diurnal constituents-M2 and S2-were similar, which indicates that the tidal currents are mainly barotropic in this area. The main features of the variation of the four principal tidal constituents with depth demonstrate that the currents in this region are influenced by the upper and lower boundary layers. Therefore, the tidal constituents of the shallow water are similar. Different vertical modes were calculated based on the Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis of the Eastern and Northern components of the tidal currents, with a variance contribution for the zero-order model of at least 90%. The variance contribution of the baroclinic model is minimal, which further reveals a strong barotropic character for the tidal currents of this region.
The Greenland Sea,Iceland Sea,and Norwegian Sea (GIN seas) form the main channel connecting the Arctic Ocean with other Oceans,where significant water and energy exchange take place,and play an important role in global climate change.In this study steric sea level,associated with temperature and salinity,in the GIN seas is examined based on analysis of the monthly temperature and salinity fields from Polar science center Hydrographic Climatology (PHC3.0).A method proposed by Tabata et al.is used to calculate steric sea level,in which,steric sea level change due to thermal expansion and haline contraction is termed as the thermosteric component (TC) and the halosteric component (SC),recpectively.Total steric sea level (TSSL) change is the sum of TC and SC.The study shows that SC is making more contributions than TC to the seasonal change of TSSL in the Greenland Sea,whereas TC contributes more in the Norwegian and the Iceland Seas.Annual variation of TSSL is larger than 50 mm over most regions of the GIN Seas,and can be larger than 200 mm at some locations such as 308 mm at 76.5 N,12.5 E and 246 mm at 77.5 N,17.5 W.
