• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.51 no.2
• /
• pp.187-198
• /
• 2018

The monthly salinity maps from Aquarius satellite covering the entire East Sea were produced to analyze the low-salinity water appearing in fall every year. The low-salinity water in the northern East Sea began to appear in May-June, spreading southward along the coast and eastward north of the subpolar front. Low-salinity water from the East China Sea entered the East Sea through the Korea Strait from July to September and was mixed with low-salinity water from the northern East Sea in the Ulleung Basin. The strength of the low-salinity water from the East China Sea was dependent on the strength of the southerly wind of the East China Sea in July-August. The salinity reaches a minimum in September with a distribution parallel to the latitude of $37.5^{\circ}N$. In October, low salinity water is distributed along the mean current path and subpolar front and the entire East Sea is covered with the low salinity water in November. Water with salinity larger than 34 psu starts to flow into the East Sea through the Korea Strait in December and it expands gradually northward up to the subpolar front in January- February.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.26 no.7
• /
• pp.714-724
• /
• 2005

The East Sea, a semi-enclosed marginal sea with shallow straits in the northwest Pacific, is marked by the nearly geographic isolation and the low sea surface salinity during the last glacial maximum (LGM). The East Sea might have the only connection to the open ocean through the Korea Strait with a sill depth of 130 m, allowing the paleo-Tsushima Water to enter the sea during the LGM. The low paleosalinity associated with abnormally light $\delta^{18}O$ values of planktonic foraminifera is interpreted to have resulted from river discharge and precipitation. Nevertheless, two LGM features in the East Sea are disputable. This study attempts to estimate volume transport of the paleo-Tsushima Water via the Korea Strait and further examines its effect on the low sea surface salinity (SSS) during the lowest sea level of the LGM. The East Sea was not completely isolated, but partially linked to the northern East China Sea through the Korea Strait during the LGM. The volume transport of the paleo-Tsushima Water during the LGM is calculated approximately$(0.5\~2.1)\times10^{12}m^3/yr$ on the basis of the selected seismic reflection profiles along with bathymetry and current data. The annual influx of the paleo-Tsushima Water is low, compared to the 100 m-thick surface water volume $(about\;79.75\times10^{12}m^3)$ in the East Sea. The paleo-Tsushima Water influx might have changed the surface water properties within a geologically short time, potentially decreasing sea surface salinity. However, the effect of volume transport on the low sea surface salinity essentially depends on freshwater amounts within the paleo-Tsushima Water and excessive evaporation during the glacial lowstands of sea level. Even though the paleo-Tsushima Water is assumed to have been entirely freshwater at that time period, it would annually reduce only about 1‰ of salinity in the surface water of the East Sea. Thus, the paleo-Tsushima Water influx itself might not be large enough to significantly reduce the paleosalinity of about 100 m-thick surface layer during the LGM. This further suggests contribution of additional river discharges from nearby fluvial systems (e.g. the Amur River) to freshen the surface water.

• Proceedings of the Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering Conference
• /
• 2004.05a
• /
• pp.285-289
• /
• 2004

Oceanographic observation and qualitative analysis for deep ocean water in the East Sea were carried out from January 2003 to January 2004, in order to understand the characteristics of deep sea water in the East Sea. Temporal and spatial variation of water masses were discussed from survey of the study area including the coastal sea of Kwangwon province in where the polar front mixing cold and warm water masses were formed. On the basis of the vertical profiles of temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen, water masses in the study area were divided into 5 major groups; (1) Low Saline Surface Water (LSSW) (2) Tsushima Surface water (TSW) (3) Tsushima Middle Water (TMW) (4) North Korea Cold Water (NKCW) and (5) East Sea Proper Water (ESPW). In winter, surface water in coastal sea of Kwangwaan Kosung region were dominated by North Korean Cold Water (NKCW). As Tsushima warm current were enforced in summer, various water masses were vertically emerged in study area, in order of TSW, TMW, NKCW and ESPW. It is highly possible that the LSSW which occurred at surface water of september is originated from influx of fresh water due to the seasonal rainy spell. Nevertheless water masses existed within surface water were seasonally varied, water quality characteristics of East Sea Proper Water (ESPW) under 300 m did not changed all the seasons of the year.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.161-169
• /
• 2000

A seasonal circulation in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea and its possible cause have been studied with CSK data during 1965-1989. Water mass distributions are clear in winter, but not in summer because the upper layer waters are quite influenced by atmosphere. To solve the problem, a water mass analysis by mixing ratio is used for the lower layer waters. The results show that the distribution of Tsushima Warm Current Water expands to the Yellow Sea in winter and retreats to the East China Sea in summer. It means that there is a very slow seasonal circulation between the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea: Tsushima Warm Current Water flows into the Yellow Sea in winter and coastal water flows out of the Yellow Sea in summer. By the circulation, the front between Tsushima Warm Current Water and coastal water moves toward the shelf break in summer so that the flow is faster in the deeper region. The process eventually makes the transport in the Korea Strait increase. The Kuroshio does not seem to influence the process. A possible mechanism of the process is the seasonal change of sea surface slope due to different local effects of surface heating and diluting between the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.123-133
• /
• 1996

We describe here the shallow water tides in the seas around Korea, obtained from a nonlinear barotropic model of tides in a domain encompassing the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the East Sea (Sea of Japan). As expected, the shallow water tides are large in the shallow marginal areas around the Yellow Sea, with the M4 tide reaching amplitudes as high as 10 cm near the Korean coast, and quite small in the East Sea. However, we also find that the regions east of the Yangtze River ($126^{\circ}E,$ $30^{\circ}N$) in the East China Sea also sustain large shallow water tides, with $M_{4}$, amplitudes reaching 5 cm. Such large shallow water tides are an important component of altimeter-measured sea levels and should not be ignored in any altimetric analyses of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. This study also highlights the desirability of very high resolution models to derive accurate shallow water tides in coastal regions.

• Proceedings of the Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering Conference
• /
• 2001.10a
• /
• pp.103-107
• /
• 2001

The major studies of an ocean circulation of the East/Japan Sea related to evaluate the feasibility and utilization of deep ocean water are reviewed. The major feature of surface current system of the East/Japan Sea is an inflow of the Tsushima Warm Current through the Korea/Tsushima Strait and the outflow through the Tsugaru and Soya Straits. The Tsushima Warm Current has been known to split into two or three branches in the southern region of the East/Japan Sea. In the cold water region of the East/Japan Sea, the North Korean Cold Current turns to the east near 39$^{\circ}$N after meeting the East Korean Warm Current, then flows eastward. The degree of penetration depends on the strength of the positive wind stress curl, according to the ventilation theory. Various current meter moorings indicate strong and oscillatory deep currents in various parts of the basin. According to some numerical experiments, these currents may be induced by pressure-topography or eddy-topography interaction. However, more investigations are needed to explain clearly the presence of these strong bottom currents. This study concludes the importance of topographical coupling, isopycnal outcropping, different wind forcing and the branching of the Tsushima Warm Current on the circulation of the East/Japan Sea.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.187-195
• /
• 2002

The characteristics of surface circulation in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea are discussed by analyzing a great deal of current data observed by 142 sets of mooring buoy and 58 sets of drifters trajectories collected in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea through domestic and abroad measurements. Some major features are demonstrated as bellow: 1) Tsushima Warm Current flows away from the Kuroshio and has multiple sources in warm half year and comes only from Kuroshio surface water in cold half year. 2) Taiwan Warm Current comes mainly from the Taiwan Strait Water in warm half year and comes from the intruded Kuroshio surface water and branches near 27N in cold half year. 3) The Changjiang Diluted Water turns towards Cheju Island in summer and flows southward along the coastal line in winter. 4) The study sea area is an eddy developing area, especially in the southern area of Cheju Island and northern area of Taiwan.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.41 no.6
• /
• pp.505-510
• /
• 2008

To understand the oceanographic characteristics of Hupo coastal waters as regards the East Korean Warm Current and the North Korean Cold Current, current direction and velocity were investigated by deploying a current meter in Hupo coastal waters during the summer and fall of 2007. Wind data were obtained from the homepage of the Korea Meteorological Administration. Water temperature was measured using a temperature meter attached to the current meter and a mini log. During summer, a south wind prevailed, while during the fall the wind blew from the north. Cold surface waters occurred on a large scale in summer, while in the fall, warm bottom water occurred frequently. After mid-November, when the surface water was cooler than $15^{\circ}C$, there was no difference in water temperature between the surface and bottom layers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.15-24
• /
• 2012

This study aims to investigate characteristics of water quality factors by using survey results of national marine environmental monitoring system from 2004 to 2010 at coastal area of the East Sea of Korea. In this study, we chose statistical methods to analyze the correlation among water quality parameters and principal component analysis for characteristics of each water environment. In addition to this, we evaluated each water's pollution level based on eutrophication standard of OECD, Eutrophication Index(EI), and Organic Pollution Index(OPI). Major factors were chlorophyll a and salt according to the analysis at coastal area of the East Sea. The sea was divided into the south and the central part by Jukbyeon. Also, Jukbyeon in the central part of the East Sea and Gampo in the southern sea coastal waters have been classified separately. The nutritional status of coastal area of East Sea presented Mesotrophic to Oligotrophic level and EI showed less than 1. OPI in all of the coastal area at the East Sea represented that the water quality condition was favorable.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.14-22
• /
• 2000

The relationship between the distribution of demersal fishes and that of the water masses was examined by using the catches data and hydrographic data in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea on May 13-19, 1996 and May 10-17, 1997. During the study period, the dominant fish species were Cleisthenes pinetorum herzinsteini, Lophiomus setigerus and Pseudosciaena polyactis. These three low temperature water species accounted for $21-24\%$ of the total catches. The percentage of the low temperature water species was high in the Yellow Sea and the coastal area on the continental shelf of the East China Sea but was low in the vincinity of Kyushu during the study period. In the East China Sea, the isotherm of $15^{\circ}C$ at 50m, mid layer depth, was located more southeast in 1996 than in 1997. The bottom water temperature was about it lower in 1996 than in 1997. The direction of the detided current on the continental shelf of the East China Sea was southward in 1996 and northward in 1997. Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water (YSBCW) strongly expanded to south in 1996 when the northward current was weak. But, Tsushima Warm Current (TSWC) strongly intruded into the continental shelf of the East China Sea in 1997. As YSBCW expanded strongly to south in 1996, the percentage of the low temperature water species relative to the total catches was high. But, TSWC strongly intruded and the percentage of low temperature water fishes was low in 1997.