Two zonal high-density hydrographic sections along 41° N and 37.5° N east of Japan were occupied in April 2013 and June 2016 to examine the formation of Central Mode Water (CMW) and Transition Region Mode Water (TRMW) in relation to fronts and eddies. In the 41° N section traversing the meandering subarctic front, the denser variety of CMW (D-CMW) and TRMW was formed continuously on both sides of the

Antarctic coastal polynyas provide extremely dense water to the global abyss, but the dense water formation process has been poorly monitored in winter. This study developed a new tethered profiler to realize time-series observations of the water column in the Cape Darnley Polynya, East Antarctica. The system successfully obtained temperature and salinity profiles at 10-day intervals from March to

The Oyashio–Kuroshio Transitional Region (OKTR) is a nursery ground for pelagic fishes; thus, community succession of mesozooplankton is pivotal to understand prey availability, and it subsequently affects recruitment success. We investigated the surface distribution, biomass, and species composition of thaliaceans (salps and doliolids) that potentially have a significant impact on the food web and

Stygiopontius copepods (Dirivultidae, Siphonostomatoida, Crustacea) are among the most successful meiobenthic organisms at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Most of their ecology is not yet known, including the spatiotemporal differences in their sex ratios and their controlling factors. We investigated spatial variation in the sex ratio of adult Stygiopontius senokuchiae and its association with environmental

Particulate carbon is one of the major carbon forms in seawater, thus plays an important role in the carbon cycle. Limited small scale studies showed that particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) content was much higher than particulate organic carbon (POC) in the Yellow River Estuary. This study is to test the hypothesis that surface PIC is significantly higher than POC in the Yellow-Bohai Sea (YBS). Using

Abstract This study investigated the relationship between phytoplankton biomass and taxonomic composition and hydrographic variables in the Northeastern Tropical Pacific for June 2015, March 2016, and September 2016. Hydrographic data were measured between surface and 100 m; samples were collected at the surface and the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) along one or two transects. Pigments were quantified

Abstract We investigated ocean variability at intermediate depths (300–750 m) in the western equatorial Pacific (WEP) using data from underwater sensors of the Triangle Trans-Ocean Buoy Network (TRITON) buoys. The data were specially processed because high accuracy is necessary for such an application, and we confirmed that sufficient accuracy was achieved. Variability of the temperature and salinity

Abstract The dispersion of Acropora coral sperm is critical for sexual reproduction via external fertilization. Sperm sinking likely plays an important role in the process of dispersion, but its rate of sinking is still unclear. To estimate the sinking speed of coral sperm without turbulence, two experiments were conducted in a water tank filled with 500 L of static seawater in the 0–60 cm layer. In

Abstract The Kuroshio takes a large meander (LM) path since summer of 2017 for the first time since the 2004–2005 event and is the sixth LM event since 1965. It has been commonly recognized that a cool water pool is distributed broadly in the inshore region between the Kuroshio and southern coast of the Tokai district, Japan, during the LM periods. By using the recently-developed 1-km high-resolution

Abstract Marine ferromanganese crusts and nodules, which contain a variety of metals, are potential seabed mineral resources. Given their low growth rates, they are regarded as condensed stratigraphic sections that archive millions of years of paleoceanographic information. Ferromanganese crusts and nodules incorporate trace elements like Cu, Zn, Mo, Tl and Ni during growth. The non-traditional isotopic

Abstract We constructed parameterizations for the estimation of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and pH in the western North Pacific, including Japanese coastal regions. Parameterizations, determined as a function of potential temperature (θ) and dissolved oxygen (DO), provided strong correlations with direct measurements for DIC [the coefficient of determination (R2) = 0.99; the root mean square error

Abstract Surface current velocity from high-frequency radar data are used to study tidal currents in the Mid-Atlantic Bight, which represent an average 32% of the total kinetic energy of the surface circulation. Average annual and seasonal tidal current characteristics and the associated variance of the semi-major axis are computed. The M2 constituent dominates the tide, representing a maximum of 72

Abstract Due to the ubiquitous steep continental shelf slope in the East China Sea, topographic Rossby waves are very common when the Kuroshio Current flows along the slope, and of great importance in the water and energy exchange between the open ocean and coastal sea. To examine the structural characteristics of topographic Rossby wave, we use stretching transform of time and space and perturbation

Abstract Two-years of data from an array of pressure-sensor equipped inverted echo sounders (PIESs) deployed across the Kuroshio east of Taiwan are analyzed in this study. Cross sections of temperature, absolute, barotropic and baroclinic velocities, as well as time series of volume transports and maximum velocity axis location are analyzed to better understand the response of the Kuroshio to local

Abstract The present study aims to reveal the influence of path fluctuations of the western boundary current (Kuroshio) and other regional environmental factors on coastal recruitment of transported organisms. As a model species, we chose a catadromous eel species, Japanese eel Anguilla japonica, which is transported poleward by the Kuroshio in early life stages. We analyzed a 50-year record of A.

Abstract River plumes are an important component of estuarine circulation and have a vital role in the transport of estuarine material and momentum balance. However, little information is available on the influence of mouth bars on estuarine plumes. To address this, momentum balance analysis was carried out using the ocean numerical model, to analyze the dynamic characteristics of the Pearl River plumes

Abstract To elucidate how variables of the seawater CO2 system in surface waters have been changing seasonally and the mechanisms responsible for these changes in the area off the south coast of central Honshu Island, Japan, we made time-series measurements of total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), total alkalinity (TA), inorganic macronutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations as well as temperature

Abstract This study investigates the response of surface chlorophyll (CHL) to mesoscale eddies generated in the eastern South China Sea (ESCS) during their lifecycles based on global eddy dataset and chlorophyll data from January 2003 to December 2016. The results show that the responses of CHL anomalies to cyclones are stronger than anticyclones generated in the Luzon Strait (LS) and in the area off

Abstract This study discusses the seasonal variations in surficial sediment grain size and their implications for sediment transport driven by the hydrodynamics in the East China Sea, based on grain size analysis of surficial sediments and salinity data collected from the East China Sea continental shelf during two cruises in 2011. The results show that the grain size distribution on the East China

Abstract A variational assimilation scheme was modified for practical application of wave simulation in German Bight. Sensitivity analysis showed that responses of sparsely distributed observing sites to the errors of boundary conditions on wave boundaries crucially depend on observing locations and wave conditions. Therefore, a scheme designed for low spatial observation coverage is proposed. The

Abstract Subtidal motions, such as large-scale circulations and mesoscale eddies, frequently occupy on the propagation path of internal waves in the ocean. Through solving a modified Taylor–Goldstein equation with subtidal currents, density stratification, and the earth rotation, this study investigates the impacts of subtidal motions and the earth rotation on the modal characteristics of the semidiurnal

Abstract In this study, the tidal refraction effect on the open coast in southeastern Zhejiang, China, is numerically investigated using an MIKE21-based model. The accuracy of this numerical model was verified by comparing with the measured results. The model was then employed to simulate the tidal propagation and the impacts of intense reclamation planned in the study area. The co-tidal chart and

Abstract A high-density mooring-array observation was carried out during 1984–1985 in mid-ocean of the western North Pacific. A curious steady anticyclonic circulation is found at 4000 m depth on an almost flat bottom deeper than 6000 m, having a diameter of more than 100 km and a rotating speed of 2 cm s−1. The vorticity of − 1 × 10−6 s−1 is comparable in magnitude to mesoscale eddies. The circulation

Abstract Assessment of methylmercury (MeHg) accumulation by marine microalgae is critical to understand the dynamics of mercury (Hg) and MeHg in marine environments. We conducted incubation experiments with added MeHg to reveal its bioaccumulation by four marine microalgal lineages. Cyanophyceae had a higher cellular MeHg accumulation than Pelagophyceae, Prymnesiophyceae, and Bacillariophyceae (diatom)

The cold, low-salinity, and nutrient-rich Zhe-Min Coastal Water (ZMCW), an important part of the China Coastal Current, plays a key role in the hydrodynamics, biogeochemical processes and marine ecosystem in the Taiwan Strait (TWS). In this study, the long-term characteristics of the ZMCW were investigated using available data sets, including merged satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) data

The focus of this study was first to determine the most suitable geophysical correction models for obtaining satellite-derived sea level height time series in the South China Sea (SCS; 0–26° N, 99° E–121 °E). Analysis of difference of the sea level anomaly standard deviation was conducted to assess the quality of the various correction models. The set of correction models was used to establish the

A meteo-tsunami is a tsunami-like phenomenon excited by a traveling atmospheric disturbance. In Japan, meteo-tsunamis are frequently observed along the western coast of Kyushu Island during winter–spring. One of the largest meteo-tsunamis occurred on March 3, 2010, where the maximum amplitude of water level oscillations exceeded 1 m in various bays on the western coast of Kyushu Island including Nagasaki

A paper by Zhao and Li that was recently published in this journal (J Oceanogr 75:207–223, 2019) presented the dependence of wind stress across an air–sea interface on wave states. The purpose of these comments is to demonstrate that the sea surface roughness formula proposed by Zhao and Li can also be applied to estimate the sea surface roughness based on wind and wave statistics. The average statistical