Hydrography around Dokdo

Abstract

CTD data taken in the Ulleung Basin between 1996 and 2001 are analyzed to understand the hydrography around Dokdo. Major features occurring in the Ulleung Basin such as the path variability of the East Korean Warm Current (EKWC), the location and size of the Ulleung Warm Eddy (UWE), and the position of the Offshore Branch along the Japanese coast all influence the hydrography around Dokdo. The Dokdo area frequently lies in the eastern part of the meandering EKWC and the UWE that results in a tilting of isolines sloping upwards to Dokdo in the Ulleung Interplain Gap (UIG) between Ulleungdo and Dokdo. Subsurface water near Dokdo then becomes colder and less saline than water near Ulleungdo. Two cases that are opposite to this general trend are also identified when the Dokdo area is directly affected by the EKWC and by a small scale eddy fed by the Offshore Branch. High salinity cores and warm waters are then found near Dokdo with isolines sloping upwards to Ulleungdo. Freshening of the East Sea Intermediate Water was observed in the UIG when neither the EKWC nor the UWE was developed in the Ulleung Basin during June-November 2000.