• Ocean Science Journal
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.255-260
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• 2006

Long-term variability in the intermediate layer of the eastern Japan Basin has been investigated to understand the variability of water mass formation in the East Sea. The simultaneous decrease of temperature at shallower depths and oxygen increasing at deeper depths in the intermediate layer took place in the late 1960's sand the mid-1980's. Records of winter sea surface temperatures and air temperatures showed that there were cold winters that persisted for several years during those periods. Therefore, it was assumed that a large amount of newly-formed water was supplied to the intermediate layer during those cold winters. Close analysis suggests that the formation of the Upper Portion of Proper Water occurred in the late 1960's and the Central Water in the mid-1980's.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.17-27
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• 1997

Miami Isopycnic Coordinate Ocean Model is applied to the East Sea to estimate the renewal time of the upper Intermediate Water The model gives about 10 years of renewal time. Extrapolating this result to the whole water mass below, including the upper Intermediate Water, leads to about 81.4 years of renewal time, which is quite comparable to that obtained by Kim and Kim (1997) based on the recent observations. Deep winter mixing occurs in the north of the basin. The areas of the largest water mass conversion, from the upper mixed to the intermediate below, are along the periphery of the deep mixing zone. Large portion of the renewed Intermediate Water then advects along the Korean and Japanese coasts. It is concluded that the high-oxygen content Intermediate Water found off the Korean coast (Kim and Chung, 1984) is in part locally formed but mostly advected from the deep mixing zone.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.153-161
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• 2006

To investigate inflow path of the East Sea Intermediate Water (ESIW) into the Ulleung Basin, hydrographic data surveyed in July 2005 were analyzed. The ESIW was characterized by the Salinity Minimum Layer (SML) within a depth range of 100 to 360 meters. Averaged potential temperature and salinity of the SML were $1.835^{\circ}C$ and 34.049 psu, respectively. Mean potential density $({\sigma}_{\theta})$ of the SML was 27.221 with a standard deviation of 0.0393. On isopycnal surfaces of 27.14 and 27.18 $({\sigma}_{\theta})$ which correspond to upper layers of the ESIW, the coastal low salinity water was separated from the offshore low salinity water by the relatively warm and saline water which might be affected by the Tsushima Warm Current Water. Relatively cold and fresh water, however, intruded into the Ulleung Basin from the region of Korean coast on isopycnal surfaces of 27.22 and 27.26 which was lower layer of the ESIW. The salinity distribution in the isopycnal layer of $27.14{\sim}27.26$ with acceleration potential on 27.22 up surface also showed clearly that the low salinity water flowed from the coastal area and intruded into the Ulleung Basin. This implies that the ESIW flows ken the north to the south along the east coasts of Korea and spreads into the Ulleung Basin in summer.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 2007

To obtain the overall distribution patterns and characteristics of the East Sea Intermediate Water (ESIW), the historical data obtained by the Japan Maizuru Marine Observatory (MMO) and the Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute (KORDI) were analyzed. To obtain water characteristics of the ESIW on isopycnal surfaces, temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen were interpolated at every 0.01 interval of potential density. And then the interpolated values were averaged at the same potential density. This potential density average method preserved the salinity minimum layer more clearly compared to the depth average method. The potential density(${\sigma}_{\theta}$) range of the ESIW was $26.9{\sim}27.3$. The representative potential density of the ESIW was found to be 27.2, because the characteristics of the ESIW was clear at this density. From the horizontal distributions of physical properties on the isopycnal surface of $27.2{\sigma}_{\theta}$ it is suggested that the low salinity ESIW circulates anticlockwise over the whole basin with the high salinity intermediate water. The low salinity intermediate water extended from the northwestern part to the east along the sub-polar front and to the Ulleung Basin along the east coast of Korea.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.331-336
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• 2010

The CREAMS (Circulation Research of the East Asian Marginal Sea) survey in 1999 revealed a sharp mid-depth discontinuity of the phosphate:silicate ratio in all basins of the East/Japan Sea. Incidentally, this discontinuity layer corresponds to the oxygen minimum layer. Directly below the discontinuity layer, oxygen concentration is increased. This increase in oxygen concentration is interpreted as a proof of intermediate water formation. Oxygen minimum indicates that the water parcel is old and stable against mixing. So it seems be an efficient barrier to vertical exchange of materials. This means that, once materials enter the lower domain, they rarely return to the upper domain. Therefore, the biogeochemistry of the East/Japan Sea depends heavily on material input through the Korea Strait, and flux is expected to be sensitive to the climate change. As a result, the East/Japan Sea ecosystem seems vulnerable to tipping (regime shift), which occurred on a decadal time scale.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.8-16
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• 1997

The ventilation theory developed by Luyten, Pedlosky and Stommel (1983) is applied to the East Sea to understand the general circulation pattern of the Intermediate Water, especially the ventilated circulation beneath the Tsushima Warm Current. The original model is slightly modified such that it takes the inflow-outflow of the Tsushima Current into consideration. Results of the model indicate that for sufficiently strong Ekman pumping, the Intermediate Water circulates cyclonically by ventilation. The Intermediate Water subducts beneath the Tsushima Warm Water through the western boundary layer. Off the western boundary layer, it turns northward, outcrops to the north by passing the polar front and continues to flow northward until it finally is absorbed by the northern boundary layer. This result seems to be compatible with some recent observations. Over the ventilated area, the transport of the Tsushima Current is negligible and most transport occurs in the shadow area where the Intermediate layer is motionless indicating that, over the deep motionless layer, the two-layered vertical structure under consideration becomes substantially single-layered.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.13-23
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• 2000

The distributions of dissolved inorganic nutrient contents were investigated along transection line J (30° N) in the eastern East China Sea in December 1993 and August 1994, respectively. The concentrations of nitrate and silicate in the Kuroshio Surface Water (KSW) with high temperature and high salinity were low below 2μM and 5μM, respectively. However, these were increased sharply with depth and ranged from 20 to 40, 45 to 100μM, respectively, in the Kuroshio Intermediate Water (KIW). The relationship between temperature and nutrients suggests that Kuroshio Intermediate Water with rich nutrients were intruded into the bottom water of the outer continental shelf in the East China Sea. The bottom water of the outer continental shelf was made of two end-members mixing; nutrient depleted warm water and nutrient enriched cold water. Based on temperature, salinity and silicate concentration, the nutrients in the bottom water of the outer continental shelf suggusted to be supplied through the vertical mixing of Kuroshio subsurface water in the depth range of 100～400m. Upwelled nutrient rich water appears to be a important source of nutrients for primary production in the continental shelf area of the East China Sea.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.164-172
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• 1996

CREAMS (Circulation Research of the East Asian Marginal Seas) Expeditions have provided a rare opportunity to carry out precise measurements of salinity, temperature and chemical tracers extensively in all major basins of the East Sea (Japan Sea) in 1993-1996 for the first time in more than 60 years since Uda's investigation (Uda, 1934). Studies revealed unequivocal evidence that the East Sea Proper Water (ESPW), previously known as a single homogeneous water mass, is indeed made of several distinct water masses. CREAMS data further confirmed the earlier observations of Gamo et al. (1986) that properties in Deep Waters in the East Sea have been changing during at least the last 25 years. There is evidence, especially from the analysis of the DO profile, that these changes may result from a major change in the mode of deep water formation: from bottom water formation in the past to intermediate/deep water formation in recent years. The causes for these changes are not clear at the present time, but nay include natural variation and may also reflect recent global changes in regional scale. A moving-boundary box model is presented to describe current observations, predicting the turnover time of the total deep and bottom waters to the cold surface waters to be ${\sim}$80 years in 1996.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.581-594
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• 2004

CREAHS II carried out an intensive hydrographic survey covering almost entire East Sea in 1999. Hydrographic data from total 203 stations were released to public on the internee. This paper summarized the results of water mass analysis by OHP (Optimum Multiparameter) method that utilizes temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, alkalinity, silicate, nitrate, phosphate and location data as an input data-matrix. A total of eight source water types are identified in the East Sea: four in surface waters(North Korea Surface Water, Tatar Surface Cold Water, East Korean Coastal Water, Modified Tsushima Surface Water), two intermediate water types (Tsushima Middle Water, Liman Cold Water), two deep water types (East Sea Intermediate Water, East Sea Proper Water). Of these NKSW, MTSW and TSCW are the newly reported as the source water type. Distribution of each water types reveals several few interesting hydrographic features. A few noteworthy are summarized as follows: The Tsushima Warm Current enter the East Sea as three branches; East Korea Coastal Water propagates north along the coast around $38^{\circ}N$ then turns to northeastward to $42^{\circ}N$ and moves eastward. Cold waters of northern origin move southward along the coast at the subsurface, which existence the existence of a circulation cell at the intermediate depth of the East Sea. The estimated volume of each water types inferred from the OMP results show that the deep waters (ESIW + ESPW) fill up ca. 90% of the East Sea basins. Consequently the formation and circulation of deep waters are the key factors controlling environmental condition of the East Sea.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.120-135
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• 1996

The characteristics and fluctuations of structures and spatial distributions of thermal fronts and warm eddy in the Southeastern part of the East sea are discussed based on the data collected by the Naval Academy, Korea during Feb. 6-9, May 9-19 and Oct. 12-18, 1995. The thermal fronts existed very often at the sea off the Pohang-Ulsan, The generation of the thermal front is related with the development of the North Korea Cold Current. The warm eddy is located in the central part of the Ulleung basin where the local depth exceeds 1500m. This warm eddy is a major contributor to mass transport in the northern part of the East Sea. It is evident that knowledge of warm eddy is important in understanding the circulation in the western part of the East Sea.