Aspiration and outflow of the intermediate water in the East/Japan Sea through the Tsugaru Strait

Abstract

Outflow of the intermediate water in the East/Japan Sea through the Tsugaru Strait is inferred from the fact that profiling floats deployed below the sill depth in the central East/Japan Sea moved out to the Northwest Pacific Ocean through the Strait. Careful analysis of the float trajectories reveals that profiling floats parked at 350m, 700m, and 800m could be uplifted from depths below the sill of the Tsugaru Strait and moved over the 140m deep sill with a probability close to 100%. Application of an analytical model for the Bernoulli suction shows that intermediate waters can be aspirated over the sill depth of the Tsugaru Strait in late winter. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.