• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.235-247
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• 2009

In order to elucidate the cause of Cochlodinium polykrikoides blooms in the Korea southern coastal water, we investigated observational data of water temperatures and salinities in summer and winter, obtained from the stoppage of ship by NFRDI (National Fisheries Research and Development Institute) as well as composite images by NOAA from 1995 to 2008. Cochlodinium polykrikoides blooms occurred when water temperature was approximately $25.0{\sim}26.0^{\circ}C$ and salinity was 31.00 psu on average in Narodo neighboring seas. Different thermohaline fronts were observed between the Korea southern coastal water and the open sea water in summer and winter, respectively. That is, in winter four fronts were observed between the Korea southern coastal water with low temperature and low salinity, intermediate water originated from Tsushima Warm Current, Tsushima Warm Current with high temperature and high salinity, and the China coastal water with low temperature and low salinity. In contrast, in summer two fronts were observed between the Korea southern coastal water with low temperature and high salinity, Tsushima Warm Current with high temperature and low salinity, and the China coastal water with high temperature and high salinity. These thermohaline fronts also proved to be formed by two water masses with a different physical property, in terms of T-S diagrams. Consequently, we noticed that C. polykrikoides blooms occurring in Narodo neighboring seas in summer had a close relationship with thermohaline fronts observed between the Korea southern coastal water and Tsushima Warm Current.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.19-40
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• 2023

To investigate the role of water masses in the Jeju Strait in summer on the shallow coastal region and the characteristics of water properties in the strait, temperature and salinity were observed across the Jeju Strait in June, July, and August 2019. The cold water pool, whose temperature is lower than 15℃, was observed in the mid-depths of the central Jeju Strait and on the northern bottom slope of the strait. The cold water pools have the lowest temperature in the strait. To identify water masses comprising the cold water pool in the Jeju Strait, mixing ratios of water masses were calculated. The mid-depth cold water pool of the Jeju Strait consists of 54% of the Kuroshio Subsurface Water (KSSW) and 33% of the Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water (YSBCW). Although the cold water pool is dominantly affected by the KSSW, the YSBCW plays a major role to make the cold water pool maintain the lowest temperature in the Jeju Strait. To find origin of the cold water pool, temperature and salinity data from the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and Korea Strait in the summer of 2019 were analyzed. The cold water pool was generated along the thermohaline frontal zone between the KSSW and YSBCW in the East China Sea where intrusion and mixing of water masses are active below the seasonal thermocline. The cold water in the thermohaline frontal zone had similar mixing ratio to the cold water pool in the Jeju Strait and it advected toward the Korea Strait and shallow coastal region off the south coast of Korea. Intrusion of the mid-depth cold water pool made temperature inversion in the Jeju Strait and affected sea surface temperature variations at the coastal region off the south coast of Korea.