• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.99-108
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• 2014

One year long time-series current data were obtained at two stations (K1 and K2) located in the Usan Trough in the area north of Ulleungdo in the East Sea from September 2006. The observed data reveal enhanced seafloor flows in both stations with variabilities of about 20 days which is possibly governed by the topographic Rossby wave. After February 2007, strong flow in the upper layer in St. K1 appears throughout the mooring period and this is due to the passage of the warm eddy comparing with satellite sea surface temperature data. During this period, no significant correlation between the current in the upper layer and those in two deep layers is shown indicating the eddy does not affect flows in the deep ocean. It is also observed that the flow direction rotates clockwise with depth in both stations except for the upper of the K1. This implies that the deep flow does not parallel to the isobaths exactly and it has a downwelling velocity component. The possibility of the flow from the Japan Basin to the Ulleung Basin across the Usan Trough is not evidenced from the data.