Behavior of Water Mass Beneath the Tsushima Warm Current in the Japan Sea

Abstract

To better understand the behavior of water mass beneath the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC), we use the vertical cross-sections of potential temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen in the Japan Sea obtained by the T/V Oshoro Maru of the Hokkaido University during 8–29 June in 2011 to analyze its origins and variations. The results show that the potential temperature and salinity beneath the TWC varies little, but the dissolved oxygen varies largely with the geographical location. There are two deep water masses with different dissolved oxygen content below the TWC. One is on the coastal side with the low dissolved oxygen, and the other is on the offshore side with the high dissolved oxygen. It is inferred that the former one is relatively old water and the latter is the new water. By using the phosphate (PO4) and the apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) relationship, we calculate the PO40 (preformed PO4) as a water mass tracer. These results suggest that the water masses beneath the TWC with high and low dissolved oxygen originate from the same surface water mass in the central Japan Sea.