Synoptic Distributions of Thermal Surface Mixed Layer and Thermocline in the Southern Yellow and East China Seas

摘要

Synoptic distributions of thermal surface mixed layer and thermocline were identified using four airborne expendable bathythermograph (AXBT) surveys (September 1992 and February, May, and September 1993) in the southern Yellow and East China Seas. Seasonality and a dominant driving mechanism of the surface mixed layer were examined. The dominant driving mechanisms differ between seasons and between on-shelf and off-shelf regimes. Currents, eddies, and migration of bottom cold waters (on the shelf) also affect the surface mixed layer. Thermocline thickness, temperature difference from thermocline top to bottom, and thermocline intensity in warm seasons were measured, and their synoptic features were also discussed.