ON THE SHELF CIRCULATION NORTH OF TAIWAN
摘要
Shelf circulation north of Taiwan is analyzed on the basis of hydrographic and moored current meter data obtained from the East China Sea study by the State Oceanic Administration during 1984-1985. The circulation in the summer is found to be more complicated than that in the winter. In both seasons evidences suggest the existence of a meandering flow pattern converging to the shelf break, which may be called the offshore branch of the Taiwan Warm Current. Along the Fujian-Zhejiang coast the inshore branch of the Taiwan Warm Current is present in both summer and winter, and at least its upper-layer water seems to have originated mainly from the Taiwan Strait. Using a simple mode! we find that the absence of the Taiwan coast to support the surface slope of the Kuro-shio inflow after it enters the East China Sea is one of the major factors responsible for the meander. However, there is a fundamental difference on the way the meander is formed in each season.