Publication Date:
2022-05-26
Description:
Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers 56 (2009): 2088-2099, doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2009.08.006.
Description:
This paper reports on the strength and structure of the Kuroshio Extension and its
recirculation gyres. In the time average, quasi-permanent recirculation gyres are
found to the north and south of the Kuroshio Extension jet. The characteristics
of recirculation gyres are determined from the combined observations from the
Kuroshio Extension System Study (KESS) field program program (June 2004 –
June 2006) and include current meters, pressure and current recording inverted
echo sounders, and sub-surface floats. The position and strength of the recirculation
gyres simulated by a high-resolution numerical model are found to be consistent
with the observations.
The circulation pattern that is revealed is of a complex system of multiple recirculation
gyres that are embedded in the crests and troughs of the quasi-permanent
meanders of the Kuroshio Extension. At the location of the KESS array, the
Kuroshio Extension jet and its recirculation gyres transport of about 114 Sv. This
represents a 2.7-fold increase in the transport of the current compared to the
Kuroshio’s transport at Cape Ashizuri before it separates from the coast and flows
eastward into the open ocean. This enhancement in the current’s transport comes
from the development of the flanking recirculation gyres. Estimates from an array
of inverted echo sounders and a high-resolution ocean general circulation model
are of similar magnitude.
Description:
This work was supported by National Science Foundation funding
for the KESS program under grants OCE-0220161 (SRJ, NGH,
LR and SNW), OCE-0825550 (SNW), OCE-0221008 (KAD, DRW,
KLT), OCE-0220680 (BQ, SC and PH), and OCE-0549225 (JLM).
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Preprint
Format:
application/pdf
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