The Dependence of Water Exchanges between the Kuroshio Water and Its Surroundings on the Characteristics of the Kuroshio's Meanders

摘要

Observation of fluid parcel pathways in the Kuroshio Stream revealed a striking cross-stream pattern associated with the Kuroshio's meanders. In order to understand the observed pattern, a two-dimensional kinematic model of a meandering jet was developed which could be used to examine the relationship between streamfunction patterns and fluid parcel trajectories. The experiments designed to investigate the dependence of the water exchanges between the Kuroshio water and its surroundings on the characteristics of the Kuroshio's meanders involved the downstream speed, phase speed and the amplitude of other propagating waves.The results suggested that fluid parcels could cross the meandering jet to and fro; and that the water exchanges between the Kuroshio and its surroundings increased with a) increasing meander amplitude, b) decreasing downstream speed, and c) increasing wave phase speed. The results also showed that when the meandering jet was disturbed by other propagating waves, more effective water exchanges could be induced.