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Seasonal pathways of the Tsugaru Warm Current revealed by high-frequency ocean radars

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Abstract

Seasonal pathway of the Tsugaru Warm Current (TWC), coastal boundary current flowing eastward from the Sea of Japan to the North Pacific Ocean, is investigated using data of surface currents measured by high-frequency ocean radars for the period 2014–2020. The TWC takes a pathway along the center of Tsugaru strait during summer season (41.64ºN), while during winter season the TWC moves to south to flow along the southern coast (41.55ºN). These pathways are associated with seasonal outflow modes known as “Gyre mode” and “Coastal mode,” respectively. Seasonal changes in current velocity, characterized by intensified flow in summer and autumn seasons and weakened flow in winter season, are well correlated with seasonal changes of sea level difference between Fukaura and Hakodate. However, this clear relationship is not seen at the eastern exit of the strait (141.5ºE). There is a shallow sill that extends northward from the southern coast. HFR further reveals that Coastal mode is locally intensified and widened when passing through this sill. These TWC’s responses are qualitatively explained by mass conservation for barotropic flow that flows in a horizontal two-dimensional channel with sea floor depth change. These responses over the sill are not seen during Gyre mode because the northward shift keeps the pathway away from the sill. During the Coastal mode, there are some cases in which the TWC does not ride on the sill but takes a pathway around the sill. Such patterns are seen when the TWC is weak, thus a weak Coastal mode.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the chief editor (Dr. Ebuchi), handling editor (Dr. Takikawa), and two anonymous reviewers who provided valuable comments that contributed to the improvement of this manuscript. We are indebted to the captains and crews on board training ships Ushio-Maru, Oshoro-Maru, and the staff of JAMSTEC and Marine Work Japan, Ltd., for their cooperation for the CTD, ship-board ADCP, and drifting buoy observations. Sea level data at Fukaura and Hakodate stations are provided by Japan Meteorological Agency, and at Hachinohe by Sendai Research and Engineering Office for Port and Airport, Tohoku Regional Development Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. We are grateful to Dr. Isoda, Dr. Watanabe, Dr. Kaneko for their fruitful comments and discussions. This work was supported by the Sasakawa Scientific Research Grant from the Japan Science Society (grant number 2019-2038), in part by the Collaborative Research Program of Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University, and the Grant for Joint Research Program of the Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School/Faculty of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, 3-1-1 Minato-cho, Hakodate, Hokkaido, 041-8611, Japan

    Tomomi Yasui, Hiroto Abe & Toru Hirawake

  2. Mutsu Institute for Oceanography, Research Institute for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine–Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Aomori, Japan

    Hiroto Abe, Ken’ichi Sasaki & Masahide Wakita

  3. Present address: National Institute of Polar Research, 10-3, Midori-cho, Tachikawa, Tokyo, 190-8518, Japan

    Toru Hirawake

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  1. Tomomi Yasui
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  2. Hiroto Abe
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  3. Toru Hirawake
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  4. Ken’ichi Sasaki
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  5. Masahide Wakita
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Correspondence to Tomomi Yasui.

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Yasui, T., Abe, H., Hirawake, T. et al. Seasonal pathways of the Tsugaru Warm Current revealed by high-frequency ocean radars. J Oceanogr 78, 103–119 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-022-00631-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-022-00631-y

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