Hydrological regime of Peter the Great Bay (the Sea of Japan) in spring in 2010–2016 and its variability
Keywords:
seawater structure and dynamics, atmospheric conditions, seawater freshening, Peter the Great BayAbstract
The study focuses on interannual variability of seawater temperature, salinity, vertical structure and dynamics in Peter the Great Bay in spring. We have noticed a significant continuity in the spring water dynamics in 2010 and in 2013–2016 and marked a fundamental distinction from the known sea current patterns for the summer season. During the past several years, Peter the Great Bay surface waters were influenced by substantial freshening in 2010, 2013–2016. An extremely low water salinity observed in spring 2016 resulted from a coupled effect of continental runoff and inflow of the Primorsky Current into the Bay, as well as from advection of low-salinity waters from the East China Sea. The latter came through the western channel of the Korean Strait and could occasionally reach the Russia coast like “vortex paths”.