by Nagai, Takeyoshi, Durán Gómez, Gloria Silvana, Otero, Diego Andre, Mori, Yasutaka, Yoshie, Naoki, Ohgi, Kazuki, Hasegawa, Daisuke, Nishina, Ayako and Kobari, Toru
Abstract:
Abstract The Kuroshio Current carries a large amount of nutrients in dark subsurface layer along the southern coast of Japan. However, due to lack of sufficient multidisciplinary high-resolution observations, it has been unclear whether and how the subsurface nutrients are injected to sunlit layers on the continental shelf. In this study, using a state-of-the-art tow-yo microstructure profiler and nitrate measurements, we show that the Kuroshio flowing on the shelfbreak induces very strong turbulent dissipation rate \UTF223CO(10−7W\UTF00B7kg−1) and diffusivity \UTF223CO(10−3\UTF00A0m2\UTF00B7s−1) over an across frontal scale of 20\UTF201330\UTF00A0km. This strong turbulence could provide a diffusive nitrate flux to euphotic zone of >O(1\UTF00A0mmol\UTF00A0N\UTF00B7m−2\UTF00B7day−1). As the Kuroshio steadily runs on the continental shelves along the path, the nutrient injection found in this study is a very important supply for biological production on the continental margin along the southern coast of Japan.
Reference:
How the Kuroshio Current Delivers Nutrients to Sunlit Layers on the Continental Shelves With Aid of Near-Inertial Waves and Turbulence (Nagai, Takeyoshi, Durán Gómez, Gloria Silvana, Otero, Diego Andre, Mori, Yasutaka, Yoshie, Naoki, Ohgi, Kazuki, Hasegawa, Daisuke, Nishina, Ayako and Kobari, Toru), In Geophysical Research Letters, volume 46, 2019.
Bibtex Entry:
@article{doi:10.1029/2019GL082680,
author = {Nagai, Takeyoshi and {Dur{\'a}n G{\'o}mez}, Gloria Silvana and Otero, Diego Andre and Mori, Yasutaka and Yoshie, Naoki and Ohgi, Kazuki and Hasegawa, Daisuke and Nishina, Ayako and Kobari, Toru},
title = {How the {K}uroshio {C}urrent Delivers Nutrients to Sunlit Layers on the Continental Shelves With Aid of Near-Inertial Waves and Turbulence},
journal = {Geophysical Research Letters},
volume = {46},
number = {12},
pages = {6726-6735},
keywords = {Kuroshio, turbulence, near-inertial internal waves, nutrients, primary production, phytoplankton},
doi = {10.1029/2019GL082680},
url = {https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2019GL082680},
eprint = {https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2019GL082680},
abstract = {Abstract The Kuroshio Current carries a large amount of nutrients in dark subsurface layer along the southern coast of Japan. However, due to lack of sufficient multidisciplinary high-resolution observations, it has been unclear whether and how the subsurface nutrients are injected to sunlit layers on the continental shelf. In this study, using a state-of-the-art tow-yo microstructure profiler and nitrate measurements, we show that the Kuroshio flowing on the shelfbreak induces very strong turbulent dissipation rate \UTF{223C}O(10−7W\UTF{00B7}kg−1) and diffusivity \UTF{223C}O(10−3\UTF{00A0}m2\UTF{00B7}s−1) over an across frontal scale of 20\UTF{2013}30\UTF{00A0}km. This strong turbulence could provide a diffusive nitrate flux to euphotic zone of >O(1\UTF{00A0}mmol\UTF{00A0}N\UTF{00B7}m−2\UTF{00B7}day−1). As the Kuroshio steadily runs on the continental shelves along the path, the nutrient injection found in this study is a very important supply for biological production on the continental margin along the southern coast of Japan.},
year = {2019}
}