Studies on mixing and exchange between the Okhotsk Sea and the Pacific and impact on deep structure

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25257206
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 海外学術
• Research Field: Meteorology/Physical oceanography/Hydrology
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Yasuda Ichiro 東京大学, 大気海洋研究所, 教授 (80270792)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): Nishioka Jun 北海道大学, 低温科学研究所, 准教授 (90371533) ; Fujio Shinzo 東京大学, 大気海洋研究所, 准教授 (00242173) ; Yanagimoto Daigo 東京大学, 大気海洋研究所, 助教 (40260517) ; Nagasawa Maki 東京大学, 大気海洋研究所, 技術専門員 (60447448)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 日露共同観測 / ブッソル海峡 / オホーツク海 / 乱流 / 鉛直混合 / 千島海峡部 / ロシア海域 / 深層循環

Outline of Final Research Achievements

By performing the Russian vessel Multanovsky Expedition in the Russian economic zone in June 2014, we succeeded in time-series observations of long-range current moorings and a glider with a turbulence profiler in and around the Kuril Straits and physical-chemical integrated observations on the Pacific side. Observed enhanced turbulence in the Bussol’ Strait leads to the discovery that thickness and iron/nutrient changes of outflowing Okhotsk Sea water through the strait to influence largely on the water-mass structures and ecosystem in the North Pacific. The enhanced turbulence is found to be generated by 1) the superposition of tidal and mean currents in the deep Bussol’ Strait and by 2) the enhanced down-slope currents accompanied by topographically-trapped waves in the shallow Urup Strait.

Free Research Field

海洋物理学