Dramatic weakening of the ear-shaped thermal front in the Yellow Sea during 1950s-1990s

Tana; FANG Yue; LIU Baochao; SUN Shuangwen; WANG Huiwu

doi:10.1007/s13131-016-0885-y

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Article Navigation > Acta Oceanologica Sinica > 2017 > 36(5): 51-56

Tana, FANG Yue, LIU Baochao, SUN Shuangwen, WANG Huiwu. Dramatic weakening of the ear-shaped thermal front in the Yellow Sea during 1950s-1990s[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2017, 36(5): 51-56. doi: 10.1007/s13131-016-0885-y

Citation:

Tana, FANG Yue, LIU Baochao, SUN Shuangwen, WANG Huiwu. Dramatic weakening of the ear-shaped thermal front in the Yellow Sea during 1950s-1990s[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2017, 36(5): 51-56. doi: 10.1007/s13131-016-0885-y

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Dramatic weakening of the ear-shaped thermal front in the Yellow Sea during 1950s-1990s

doi: 10.1007/s13131-016-0885-y

1.
College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China;Center for Ocean and Climate Research, The First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao 266061, China
2.
Center for Ocean and Climate Research, The First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao 266061, China;Laboratory for Regional Oceanography and Numerical Modeling, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266235, China
3.
Center for Ocean and Climate Research, The First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao 266061, China

Received Date: 2016-02-16

Abstract

Abstract

The ear-shaped thermal front (ESTF), formed by the convergence of the Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC) and the Shandong Coastal Current (SCC), is a very important oceanic phenomenon in the Yellow Sea (YS) in winter. In situ measurements and reanalysis datasets all demonstrate that the ESTF has been weakening during 1950s-1990s, and a similar weakening trend is also found in winter monsoon over the YS. Numerical experiments show that the weakening of winter monsoon can induce an anomalous circulation in the YS on multi-decadal timescale with northward anomalous currents along China's coast and southward anomalous currents in the central YS—generally opposite to seasonal mean circulation. The anomalous circulation causes slowdown of the YSWC and the SCC, and thus weakens the ESTF. Since the ESTF plays important roles in regional ocean dynamics and air-sea interactions, its weakening has important implications for regional climate in the YS in winter.
- thermal front,
- Yellow Sea,
- circulation,
- monsoon,
- multi-decadal variability

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