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A role of eddies in formation and transport of North Pacific Subtropical Mode Water
Author(s) -
Uehara Hiroki,
Suga Toshio,
Hanawa Kimio,
Shikama Nobuyuki
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2003gl017542
Subject(s) - argo , thermocline , mode water , eddy , hydrography , mesoscale meteorology , geology , mixed layer , oceanography , anticyclone , climatology , subtropics , drifter , ocean gyre , lagrangian , meteorology , geography , turbulence , physics , fishery , mathematical physics , biology
Hydrographic data acquired during 2001 by Argo profiling floats deployed in the Kuroshio recirculation region are used to verify the inference that mesoscale eddies prevailing in the recirculation region play an important role in the formation and transport of North Pacific Subtropical Mode Water (NPSTMW). That is, the deeper winter mixed layer is formed preferentially where the thermocline is deeper in association with anticyclonic eddies. In the succeeding seasons, mesoscale eddies retain NPSTMW during their southwestward movement from the NPSTMW formation region, so that anticylonic eddies contribute substantially to the NPSTMW transportation. The spatial distributions of the mixed layer depth in winter and the NPSTMW thickness in the succeeding seasons, based on the float data, suggest that they are affected by mesoscale eddies. The float data also provide the statistical relations of these quantities against the thermocline depth, which are consistent with our inference.