A THEORETICAL SOLUTION FOR THE THERMOHALINE CIRCULATION IN THE SOUTHERN YELLOW SEA

Application of the thermocline equations in the thermocline areas and the boundary layer and the asymptotic matching techniques in each boundary in order to satisfy the surface and bottom conditions yielded a theoretical 2- D solution of the vertical thermohaline circulation of the Southern Yellow Sea in summer when the quasi-statically varying seasonal thermocline (density layer) is the background density structure , the deviations from which cause the secondary vertical circulation . The results show that the thermocline can be considered as an internal boundary or a barrier to the vertical heat advection so that in the central areas of the Southern Yellow Sea or the center of the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass(YCWM)> the downwelling in the upper layer and upwelling in the lower or bottom layer form a double cell vertical circulation . The solution is similar to Hu's conceptual model ( 1986) in the central areas of the YCWM and is consistent with observed temperature . salinity and dissolved oxygen distri     

Responses of Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass to Typhoon Bolaven

A two-month seabed-mounted observation(YSG1 area) was carried out in the western Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass(YSCWM) using an RDI-300 K acoustic Doppler current profiler(ADCP) placed at a water depth of 38 m in late summer, 2012. On August 2012, Typhoon Bolaven passed east of YSG1 with a maximum wind speed of 20 m s-1. The water depth, bottom temperature, and profile current velocities(including u, v and w components) were measured, and the results showed that the typhoon could induce horizontal current with speed greater than 70 cm s-1 in the water column, which is especially rare at below 20 meters above bottom(mab). The deepening velocity shear layer had an intense shear velocity of around 10 cm s-1 m-1, which indicated the deepening of the upper mixed layer. In the upper water column(above 20 mab), westward de-tide current with velocity greater than 30 cm s-1 was generated with the typhoon's onshore surge, and the direction of current movement shifted to become southward. In the lower water column, a possible pattern of eastward compensation current and delayed typhoon-driven current was demonstrated. During the typhoon, bottom temperature variation was changed into diurnal pattern because of the combined influence of typhoon and tidal current. The passage of Bolaven greatly intensified local sediment resuspension in the bottom layer. In addition, low-density particles constituted the suspended particulate matter(SPM) around 10 mab, which may be transported from the central South Yellow Sea by the typhoon. Overall, the intensive external force of the Typhoon Bolaven did not completely destroy the local thermocline, and most re-suspended sediments during the typhoon were restricted within the YSCWM.     

Interannual salinity variability of the Northern Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass

This paper discusses the interannual variability of the Northern Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass(NYSCWM) and the factors that influence it,based on survey data from the 1976–2006 national standard section and the Korea Oceanographic Data Center,monthly E-P flux data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts,and meridional wind speed data from the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set. The results show that:1) the mean salinity of the NYSCWM center has a slightly decreasing trend,which is not consistent with the high salinity center; 2) both the southern salinity front and the halocline of the NYSCWM display a weakening trend,which indicates that the difference between the NYSCWM and coastal water decreases; 3) the Yellow Sea Warm Current intrusion,the E-P flux of the northern Yellow Sea,and the strength of the winter monsoon will affect the NYSCWM salinity during the following summer.     

Simulation of coupled pelagic-benthic ecosystem of the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass

A one-dimensional coupled pelagic-benthic box model for the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass （YSCWM） is developed. The model is divided into three boxes vertically according to the depths of thermocline and euphotic layer. It simulates well the oligotrophic shelf ecosystem of the YSCWM considering effects of nutrients deposition and microbial loop. Main features of vertical structure of various variables in ecosystem of the YSCWM were captured and seasonal variability of the ecosystem was well reconstructed. Calculation shows that the contribution of microbial loop to the zooplankton can reach up to 60%. Besides, input of inorganic nutrients from atmospheric deposition is an important mechanism of production in upper layer of the YSCWM when stratified.     

Annual variation in Calanus sinicus abundance and population structure in the northern boundary area of the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass

The Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass （YSCWM） was suggested as an over-summering site of the dominant copepod species Calanus sinicus in coastal Chinese seas. Population abundance and structure were investigated by monthly sampling along three transects across the northern boundary of the YSCWM during 2009-2010. Results show that thermal stratification existed from June to October and that the vertical thermal difference increased with depth. Generally, total abundance was lowest in October and highest in June, and the female/male sex ratio was highest in February and lowest in August. Evident spatial differences in abundance were observed during the existence of the YSCWM. In June, total abundance averaged 158.8 ind/m~ at well-stratified stations, and 532.1 ind/m3 at other stations. Similarly, high abundances of 322.0 and 324.4 ind/m3 were recorded from July to August inside the YSCWM, while the abundance decreased from 50.4 to 1.9 ind/m3 outside the water mass. C. sinicus distribution tended to even out over the study area in September when the YSCWM disappeared. We believe that the YSCWM may retard population recruitment in spring and preserve abundant cohorts in summer. The summer population was transported to neritic waters in autumn. In addition to low temperatures, stable vertical structure was also an essential condition for preservation of the summer population. C. sinicus can survive the summer in marginal areas in high abundance, but the population structure is completely different in terms of C5 proportion and sex ratio.     

Community structure changes of macrobenthos in the South Yellow Sea

The ecological environment in the Yellow Sea has changed greatly from the 1950s to 1990s and this has had significant impact on marine organisms. In this study, data on soft-sediment macrobenthos occurring in depths from 25 m to 81 m in the South Yellow Sea were used to compare changes in community structure. The agglomerative classification (CLUSTER) and multidimensional scaling (MDS) methods were applied. Five communities were recognized by cluster analysis: 1. The Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass community dominated by cold water species, which changed slightly in species composition since the 1950s; 2. The mixed community with the coexistence of cold water species and warm water species, as had been reported previously; 3. The polychaete-dominated eurythermal community in which the composition changed considerably as some dominant species disappeared or decreased; 4. The Changjiang (Yangtze) River Estuarine community, with some typical estuarine species; 5. The community affected by the Yellow Sea Warm Current. The greatest change occurred in the coastal area, which indicated that the change may be caused by human activities. Macrobenthos in the central region remained almost unchanged, particularly the cold water species shielded by the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass. The depth, temperature and median grain size of sediments were important factors affecting the distributions of macrobenthos in the South Yellow Sea.     

夏季黄海冷水团的多年际变化及原因浅析

基于ROMS(the Regional Ocean Model System)模式,以等温线范围变化作为黄海冷水团范围变化的示性指标,采用谱分析及相关分析的方法,分析夏季黄海冷水团范围变化。结果表明:黄海冷水团范围的变化存在明显的年变化特征,与纬向风速和经向风速相关,风速大则范围就大;黄海冷水团的范围还存在着5年的周期变化特征,其与ENSO现象相关;厄尔尼诺年时,滞后17个月的黄海冷水团的分布范围一般会较小;而拉尼娜年时,滞后17个月的黄海冷水团的分布范围会比较大。     

Tidal effects on temperature front in the Yellow Sea

Temperature front (TF) is one of the important features in the Yellow Sea, which forms in spring, thrives in summer, and fades in autumn as thermocline declines. TF intensity ⋎S _T ⋎ is defined to describe the distribution of TF. Based on the MASNUM wave-tide-circulation coupled model, temperature distribution in the Yellow Sea was simulated with and without tidal effects. Along 36°N, distribution of TF from the simulated results are compared with the observations, and a quantitative analysis is introduced to evaluate the tidal effects on the forming and maintaining processes of the TF. Tidal mixing and the circulation structure adapting to it are the main causes of the TF. Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (No. G1999043809) and the National Science Foundation of China (No. 49736190).     

Tidal effects on temperature iront in the Yellow Sea

Temperature front (TF) is one of the important features in the Yellow Sea, which forms in spring, thrives in summer, and fades in autumn as thermocline declines. TF intensity |ST| is defined to describe the distribution of TF. Based on the MASNUM wave-tide-circulation coupled model, temperature distribution in the Yellow Sea was simulated with and without tidal effects. Along 36°N, distribution of TF from the simulated results are compared with the observations, and a quantitative analysis is introduced to evaluate the tidal effects on the forming and maintaining processes of the TF. Tidal mixing and the circulation structure adapting to it are the main causes of the TF.     

ON THE FORMATION AND MAINTENANCE MECHANISMS OF THE COLD WATER MASS OF THE YELLOW SEA

An analytical study is made on the formation of the Cold Water Mass of the Yellow Sea (CWYS) and the relevant thermally driven circulation. The temperature and velocity field, obtained by solving the coupled equations of motion and heat conduction, show that, in summer, the CWYS has a horizontal cyclonic circulation (component) with vertical upwelling in the middle and downwelling at the edges, that the vertical convection (u-w components) occurs only within a thin layer near the thermocline. and that the deeper layer remains almost motionless. This current structure represents well the mechanisms responsible for the maintenance of the thermocline or CWYS during the wanner months. Comparisons between the theoretical and observed temperatures show very good qualitative and quantitative agreements for corresponding seasons.     

Spatial and temporal variation of picoplankton distribution in the Yellow Sea, China

Seven surveys were carried out in April, September, October, December 2006 and March, May, August 2007 in the Yellow Sea, China. Variations in the spatial and temporal distribution of Synechococcus, picoeukaryotes and heterotrophic bacteria are quantified using flow cytometry. Synechococcus and heterotrophic bacteria are most abundant from late spring to autumn, while picoeukaryotes concentration is high in spring. Synechococcus and heterotrophic bacteria concentrated high in the northwest part of the Yellow Sea in spring and autumn, while picoeukaryotes distributed evenly over the whole study area except for a small frontal zone in the coastal area on the west (in spring) and central Yellow Sea (in autumn). Under mixing conditions, the vertical distribution of the three picoplankton groups showed a well-mixed pattern. Upon a well-established stratification, the maximum abundance of picoplankton occurred above the mixed layer depth (~30 m). Cell sizes of Synechococcus and picoeukaryotes were estimated by converting forward scatter signals (FSC) from cytometry analysis to cell diameter, showing the results of 0.65–0.82 μm for Synechococcus and 0.85–1.08 μm for picoeukaryotes. The average integrated carbon biomasses ranged 15.26–312.62 mgC/m2 for Synechococcus, 18.54–61.57 mgC/m2 for picoeukaryotes, and 402.63–818.46 mgC/m2 for heterotrophic bacteria. The distribution of Synechococcus and heterotrophic bacteria was temperature dependent, and picoplankton presence was poor in the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass.     

Characteristics and formation causes of Qingdao Cold Water Mass

In this work,the main characteristics of the Qingdao Cold Water Mass were studied by using“the comparison analysis method”based on 1980 temperature,salinity and dissolved oxygen data on the western South Yellow Sea.The formation cause of the water mass was analyzed based on February of 1959 temperature and salinity data for this area and on some other authors’studies.The results showed that the Qingdao Cold Water Mass has growing and vanishing processes：appears in the last ten days of March;has stable pattern in April;is biggest in its area in May;becomes small in its area in June;vanishes in July.It comes from the northem Shandong Coastal Water and is characterized by low temperature and salinity and high disolved oxygen.The mass is formed under the joint effects of anticyclonic circulation and solar radiation.     

Seasonal evolution of circulation and thermal structure in the Yellow Sea

In this paper, the authors used the Princeton Ocean Model (POM) to simulate the seasonal evolutions of circulation and thermal structure in the Yellow Sea. The simulated circulation showed that the Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC) was a compensation current of monsoon-driven current, and that in winter, the YSWC became stronger with depth, and could flow across the Bohai Strait in the north. Sensitivity and controlling tests led to the following conclusions, In winter, the direction of the Yellow Sea Coastal Current in the surface layer was controlled partly by tide instead of wind, In summer, a cyclonic horizontal gyre existed in the middle and eastern parts of the Yellow Sea below 10 m. The downwelling in upper layer and upwelling in lower layer were somehow similar to Hu et al. (1991) conceptual model. The calculated thermal structure showed an obvious northward extending YSWC tongue in winter, its position and coverage of the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass in summer.     

Surface circulation patterns observed by drifters in the Yellow Sea in summer of 2001, 2002 and 2003

In summer of 2001, 2002 and 2003, ten, six and seventeen satellite-tracked surface drifters with drogues centered at 15 and 4 m were deployed, respectively, in the southern Yellow Sea (YS). 23 drifters of them transmitted useful data of at least 30 days. The wind-driven component of the drift was removed from the original drift velocity of drifters. The wind data used are from NCEP (National Center for Environmental Prediction), USA.Trajectories and drift velocities of the 23 drifters depicted the upper circulation structure in the southern YS. There exists an anti-cyclonic eddy with a mean speed and radius of 0.063 m/s and 50km in the central southern YS, whose center lingered within 35.3-36.0°N / 123.5-124.0°E. Showed by 6 drifters, a basin-scale elliptic cyclonic gyre with a mean speed of 0.114 m/s, long and short radius of 250 and 200 km surrounds the anti-cyclonic eddy. In the southwestern part of the southern YS has obvious frontal eddy activities within about 100 km with a mean speed about 0.076     

NUMERICAL STUDY ON THE TIDAL FRONT IN THE WESTERN YELLOW SEA

The formation and evolution of the tidal front in the western Yellow Sea are studied by means of a two-dimensional model in which wind and tide mixing, sun radiation and wind stress, and realistic topography are incorporated. In this numerical study, the schemes employed are stable for time step t= 900 s, so the model can be run for 4 months to simulate the front evolution. The authors examined the effects of mixing and atmospheric forcing on the tidal front under conditions of : mixing and solar heating without wind stress on the sea surface; mixing, solar heating and 50 hours of wind stress; mixing, solar heating and long time periodical wind stress, Results show that (1) the tidal front forms at the beginning of May, and strengthens with the increasing of heat input, (2) the temperature structure in the shallow well-mixed water is dominated by mixing, while in the front and deeper stratified regions, it is controlled by the joint effects of (mainly) mixing and advection, 0) the currents and front all     

Interannual variability of the southern Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass

Temperature data collected in the sections of 34°N, 35°N and 36°N in August from 1975 through 2003 were analyzed using Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) to investigate interannual variability of the southern Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass (YSCWM). The first mode (EOF1) reveals variations of basin-wide thermocline depth, which is mainly caused by surface heating. The second mode (EOF2) presents fluctuations of vertical circulation, resulting mainly from interannual variability of cold front intensity. In addition, it is found that the upward extent of upwelling in the cold front is basically determined by wind stress curl and the zonal position of the warm water center in the southern Yellow Sea is correlated with spatial difference of net heat flux.     

Wave-induced mixing in the Yellow Sea

Vertical wave-induced mixing parameter Bv expressed in wave number spectrum was estimated in the Yellow Sea. The spatial distributions of By averaged over upper 20 m in 4 seasons were analyzed. It is the strongest in winter because of winter monsoon, and the weakest in spring. Since in summer it plays an important role for circulation of upper layers, its vertical structure was also discussed. Two simulations with and without wave-induced mixing in this season were performed to evaluate its effect on temperature distribution. Numerical results indicate that wave-induced mixing could increase the mixed layer thickness greatly.     

Vorticity budget study on the seasonal upper circulation in the northern South China Sea from altimetry data and a numerical model

Based on the EOF analyses of Absolute Dynamic Topography satellite data,it is found that,in summer,the northern South China Sea(SCS) is dominated by an anticyclonic gyre whilst by a cyclonic one in winter.A connected single-layer and two-layer model is employed here to investigate the dynamic mechanism of the circulation in the northern SCS.Numerical experiments show that the nonlinear term,the pressure torque and the planetary vorticity advection play important roles in the circulation of the northern SCS,whilst the contribution by seasonal wind stress curl is local and limited.Only a small part of the Kuroshio water intrudes into the SCS,it then induces a positive vorticity band extending southwestward from the west of the Luzon Strait(LS) and a negative vorticity band along the 200 m isobath of the northern basin.The positive vorticity field induced by the local summer wind stress curl is weaker than that induced in winter in the northern SCS.Besides the Kuroshio intrusion and monsoon,the water transports via the Sunda Shelf and the Sibutu Passage are also important to the circulation in the northern SCS,and the induced vorticity field in summer is almost contrary to that in winter.The strength variations of these three key factors(Kuroshio,monsoon and the water transports via the Sunda Shelf and the Sibutu Passage) determine the seasonal variations of the vorticity and eddy fields in the northern SCS.As for the water exchange via the LS,the Kuroshio intrusion brings about a net inflow into the SCS,and the monsoon has a less effect,whilst the water transports via the Sunda Shelf and the Sibutu Passage are the most important influencing factors,thus,the water exchange of the SCS with the Pacific via the LS changes dramatically from an outflow of the SCS in summer to an inflow into the SCS in winter.     

The sensitivity of numerical simulation to vertical mixing parameterization schemes: a case study for the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass

The vertical mixing parameterization scheme,by providing the effects of some explicitly missed physical processes and more importantly closing the energy budgets,is a critical model component and therefore imposes significant impacts on model performance.The Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass(YSCWM),as the most striking and unique phenomenon in the Yellow Sea during summer,is dramatically affected by vertical mixing process during its each stage and therefore seriously sensitive to the proper choice of parameterization scheme.In this paper,a hindcast of YSCWM in winter of 2006 was implemented by using the Regional Ocean Modeling System(ROMS).Three popular parameterization scheme s,including the level2.5 Mellor-Yamada clo sure(M-Y 2.5),Generic Length Scale clo sure(GL S) and K-Profile Parameterization(KPP),were tested and compared with each other by conducting a series of sensitivity model experiments.The influence of different parameterization scheme s on modeling the YSCWM was then carefully examined and assessed based on these model experiments.Although reasonable thermal structure and its seasonal variation were well reproduced by all schemes,considerable differences could still be found among all experiments.A warmer and spatially smaller simulation of YSCWM,with very strong the rmocline,appeared in M-Y 2.5 experiment,while a spatially larger YSCWM with shallow mixed layer was found in GLS and KPP schemes.Among all the experiments,the discrepancy,indicated by core temperature,appeared since spring,and grew gradually by the end of November.Additional experiments also confirmed that the increase of background diffusivity could effectively weaken the YSCWM,in either strength or coverage.Surface wave,another contributor in upper layer,was found responsible for the shrinkage of YSCWM coverage.The treatment of wave effect as an additional turbulence production term in progno stic equation was shown to be more superior to the strategy of directly increasing diffusivity for a coastal region.