Fall-Season Patterns of Turbidity and Sediment Transport in the Korea Strait and Southeastern Yellow Sea.

摘要

Suspended-sediment data collected in mid-November of 1980 and 1981 and current meter moorings deployed in September and nearly October of 1982 suggest an early-fall entrainment and subsequent transport of suspended sediment into the Korean Strait by the South Korean Coastal Current. During transition from summer to winter conditions, suspended-sediment concentrations in the southeastern Yellow Sea range from 5 to 100 mg/l at the surface and 15 to 250 mg/l at the bottom in waters that are 20-80 m deep. These concentrations, 1 to 3 orders of magnitude higher than 'typical' shelf depth waters in most other parts of the world, provide the opportunity for enormous sediment transport rates within this coastal mudstream, even under relatively weak currents. The abrupt termination of this inshore band of cold, turbid water as a turbidity front some 25-50 km offshore marks the seaward boundary of the high-transport zone. Landward of the turbidity front, surface waves associated with strong cold-air outbreaks every 7-10 days may destratify the coastal mudstream and entrain additional bottom sediment. Suspended sediments transported into the Korean Strait may accumulate in south-coast embayments, reside in the deep strait, or be carried into the Sea of Japan. (Reprints).