Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.4217/OPR.2022018

Distribution of Water Masses and Characteristics of Temperature Inversion in the Western Seas of Jeju Island in Spring  

Kang, So-Young (Faculty of Earth and Marine Convergence, Earth and Marine Science Major, Jeju National University)
Moon, Jae-Hong (Faculty of Earth and Marine Convergence, Earth and Marine Science Major, Jeju National University)
Publication Information
Ocean and Polar Research / v.44, no.3, 2022 , pp. 191-207 More about this Journal
Abstract
Using the results of CTD casts made in Spring from 2017 to 2021, in this study we investigated the water mass distribution and occurrence of temperature inversion in the western seas of Jeju Island in spring. The distribution of water masses was characterized by cold and fresh water in the northwest and warm and saline water in the southeast, forming a strong thermohaline front running in the southwest-to-northeast direction. Strong temperature inversion mainly occurred in the frontal boundary when the cold water intrudes beneath the warm water at depths of 30-50 m. Analysis of the mixing ratio demonstrated that Jeju Warm Water is dominantly distributed in the western seas of Jeju Island, but its ratio can be modified depending on the southward extension of Yellow Sea Cold Water (YSCW). Results of in situ measurement showed that in 2020, the YSCW largely expanded to the western seas of Jeju Island, occupying approximately 40 % of the mixing ratio. Due to the expansion of YSCW, a strong thermohaline front was formed in the study area, thereby causing thick and strong temperature inversion. On the other hand, in 2018 the mixing ratio of YSCW was minimum (~18%) during the study period of 2017-2021, and thus a relatively weak frontal boundary was formed, without the occurrence of temperature inversion. The observational results also suggest that the interannual changes of water mass distribution and the associated temperature inversion in the western seas of Jeju Island are closely related with wind-driven Yellow Sea circulation in spring, which is the summer monsoon transition period.
Keywords
Jeju warm water; yellow sea cold water; thermohaline front; water temperature inversion;
Citations & Related Records
Times Cited By KSCI : 1  (Citation Analysis)
연도 인용수 순위
1 Yang YJ, Kim SH, Rho HK, Jeong DG (1999) Relationship between SST fronts and purse-seine fishing grounds in the South-West Sea of Korea and the northern area of the East China Sea. Kor J Fish Aquat Sci 32(5):618-623
2 Lie HJ, Cho CH, Jung KT (2015) Occurrence of large temperature inversion in the thermohaline frontal zone at the Yellow Sea entrance in winter and its relation to advection. J Geophys Res-Oceans 120(1):417-435
3 Lie HJ, Cho CH, Lee JH, Lee S, Tang Y (2000) Seasonal variation of the Cheju warm current in the northern East China Sea. J Oceanogr 56(2):197-211   DOI
4 Lie HJ, Cho CH, Lee JH, Lee S, Tang Y, Zou E (2001) Does the Yellow Sea Warm Current really exist as a persistent mean flow? J Geophys Res-Oceans 106(C10):22199-22210   DOI
5 Lie HJ, Oh KH, Cho CH, Moon JH (2019) Wintertime large temperature inversions in the Yellow Sea associated with the Cheju and Yellow Sea warm currents. J Geophys Res-Oceans 124(7):4856-4874   DOI
6 Lie HJ (1986) Summertime hydrographic features in the southeastern Hwanghae. Prog Oceanogr 17(3-4):229-242   DOI
7 Moon JH, Hirose N, Yoon JH (2009a) Comparison of wind and tidal contributions to seasonal circulation of the Yellow Sea. J Geophys Res-Oceans 114(C8):C08016. doi:10.1029/2009JC005314   DOI
8 Nagata Y (1967) On the structure of shallow temperature inversions. J Oceanogr Soc Japan 23(5):221-230   DOI
9 Pang IC, Oh KH (2000) A seasonal circulation in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea and its possible cause. J Kor Soc Oceanogr 35(4):161-169
10 Park S, Chu PC, Lee JH (2011) Interannual-to-interdecadal variability of the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass in 1967-2008: characteristics and seasonal forcings. J Marine Syst 87(3-4):177-193   DOI
11 Yang HW, Cho YK, Seo GH, You SH, Seo JW (2014) Interannual variation of the southern limit in the Yellow Sea bottom cold water and its causes. J Marine Syst 139:119-127   DOI
12 Chu P, Yuchun C, Kuninaka A (2005) Seasonal variability of the Yellow Sea/East China Sea surface fluxes and thermohaline structure. Adv Atmos Sci 22(1):1-20   DOI
13 Hong JS, Moon JH, Lee JH, Pang IC (2016) Modeling the largest inflow of Changjiang freshwater into the Yellow Sea in 2012 with particle-tracking experiment. Ocean Sci J 51(4):549-562   DOI
14 Pang IC, Hyun KH (1998) Seasonal variation of water mass distributions in the eastern Yellow Sea and the Yellow Sea warm current. J Kor Soc Oceanogr 33(3):41-52
15 Hur HB, Jacobs GA, Teague WJ (1999) Monthly variations of water masses in the Yellow and East China Seas, November 6, 1998. J Oceanogr 55(2):171-184   DOI
16 Kang YQ (1983) On the generation of temperature inversions in the upper layer of the ocean. J Kor Soc Oceanogr 18(1):43-48
17 Miller AR (1950) A study of mixing processes over the edge of the continental shelf. J Mar Res 9(2):145-160
18 Moon JH, Hirose N, Pang IC, Hyun KH (2012) Modeling offshore freshwater dispersal from the Changjiang River and controlling factors during summer. Terr Atmos Ocean Sci 23(3):247-260   DOI
19 Moon JH, Kim T, Son YB, Hong JS, Lee JH, Chang PH, Kim SK (2019) Contribution of low-salinity water to sea surface warming of the East China Sea in the summer of 2016. Prog Oceanogr 175:68-80   DOI
20 Moon JH, Pang IC, Yoon JH (2009b) Response of the Changjiang diluted water around Jeju Island to external forcings: A modeling study of 2002 and 2006. Cont Shelf Res 29(13):1549-1564   DOI
21 Kim K, Rho HK, Lee SH (1991) Water masses and circulation around Cheju-Do in summer. J Kor Soc Oceanogr 26(3):262-277
22 Pang IC, Moon JH, Lee JH, Hong JS, Pang SJ (2017) Modeling temperature inversion in southeastern Yellow Sea during winter 2016. J Geophys Res-Oceans 122(5):3848-3860   DOI
23 Pang IC, Rho HK, Kim T H (1992) Seasonal variations of water mass distributions and their causes in the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the adjacent seas of Cheju Island. Kor J Fish Aquat Sci 25(2):151-163
24 Park KA, Park JE, Choi BJ, Lee SH, Shin HR, Lee SR, Byun DS, Kang BS, Lee EI (2017) Schematic maps of ocean currents in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea for science textbooks based on scientific knowledge from oceanic measurements. J Kor Soc Oceanogr 22(4):151-171
25 Suk MS, Pang IC, Teague WJ, Chang KI (2000) Observations of the Cheju current. J Kor Soc Oceanogr 35(3):129-152
26 Zhang SW, Wang QY, Lu Y, Cui H, Yuan YL (2008) Observation of the seasonal evolution of the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass in 1996-1998. Cont Shelf Res 28(3):442-457   DOI
27 Kim SH (2020) Characteristics of water temperature inversion observed in a region west of Jeju Island in April 2015 Ocean Polar Res 42(2):97-113
28 Hersbach H, Bell B, Berrisford P, Biavati G, Horanyi A, Munoz SJ, Nicolas J, Peubey C, Radu R, Rozum I, Schepers D, Simmons A, Soci C, Dee D, Thepaut J-N (2019) ERA5 monthly averaged data on single levels from 1959 to present. Copernicus Climate Change Service. https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/dataset/reanalysis-era5-single-levels-monthly-means?tab=overview Accessed 15 Apr 2022
29 Jacobs GA, Hur HB, Riedlinger SK (2000) Yellow and East China Seas response to winds and currents. J Geophys Res-Oceans 105(C9):21947-21968   DOI
30 Kim HJ, Cho KD (1982) Inversion phenomena of density in the Japan Sea. J Kor Soc Oceanogr 17(2):51-58
31 Kondo M (1985) Oceanographic investigations of fishing current in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea-1: characteristics of the mean temperature and salinity distributions measured at 50m and near the bottom. Bull Seikai Reg Fish Res Lab 62:19-66