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Comprehensive Observational Features for the Kuroshio Transport Decreasing Trend During a Recent Global Warming Hiatus
Author(s) -
Liu ZhaoJun,
Zhu XiaoHua,
Nakamura Hirohiko,
Nishina Ayako,
Wang Min,
Zheng Hua
Publication year - 2021
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 - 10.1029/2021gl094169
Subject(s) - geology , baroclinity , climatology , oceanography , submarine pipeline , sea surface height , rossby wave , thermocline , pycnocline , advection , hiatus , sea surface temperature , paleontology , physics , thermodynamics
Abstract Linear trends in Kuroshio transport during a recent global warming hiatus (1998–2013) were evaluated using long‐term ferryboat ADCP (acoustic Doppler current profiler) data and tidal gauge data in the Tokara Strait south of Japan. The Kuroshio exhibited a remarkable weakening trend of approximately 0.05 Sv year −1 (1 Sv = 10 6 m 3 s −1 ). The pycnocline in the weakened Kuroshio was relaxed and displayed shoaling at the offshore edge, which was attributed to vertical thermocline displacement rather than to water mass modification. Importantly, Kuroshio transport trends in the Tokara Strait were affected by sea surface height anomalies, which were driven by the combined effects of the clockwise baroclinic‐mode coastal trapped wave propagation along the southern coast of Japan and downstream Kuroshio advection in the East China Sea. Both features were induced by wind stress curl changes related to the global warming hiatus over the North Pacific.