Observations of flow variability through the Kerama Gap between the East China Sea and the Northwestern Pacific

Abstract

The Kerama Gap, near the middle of the Ryukyu Island chain, is the deepest channel with a sill depth of 1050 m connecting the East China Sea (ECS) to the Northwestern Pacific. We measured the flow through the Kerama Gap from June 2009 to June 2011. The 2 year mean transport, 2.0 +/- 0.7 Sv, is into the ECS from the Northwestern Pacific; it contributes about 11% of the mean Kuroshio transport in the ECS at the PN line. Subtidal standard deviation of the transport through the Kerama Gap is 3.2 Sv, comparable to that of the PN-line Kuroshio transport (4.0 Sv), suggesting a significant effect of Kerama Gap transport on temporal variability of the Kuroshio transport in the ECS. Comparison with time series of satellite-measured sea surface height maps reveals that temporal variability of the Kerama Gap transport is related to the arrival of mesoscale eddies from the east: high (low) transport into the ECS is associated with the presence of a cyclonic (anticyclonic) eddy south of the Kerama Gap.