Poleward-propagating near-inertial waves enabled by the western boundary current
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Title
- Poleward-propagating near-inertial waves enabled by the western boundary current
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Author(s)
- Jeon, Chanhyung; Park, Jae-Hun; Nakamura, Hirohiko; Nishina, Ayako; Zhu, Xiao-Hua; Kim, Dong Guk; Min, Hong Sik; Kang, Sok Kuh; Na, Hanna; Hirose, Naoki
- KIOST Author(s)
- Kim, Dong Guk(김동국); Min, Hong Sik(민홍식)
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Alternative Author(s)
- 김동국; 민홍식; 강석구
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Publication Year
- 2019-07-09
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Abstract
- Near-inertial waves (NIWs), which have clockwise (anticlockwise) rotational motion in the Northern (Southern) Hemisphere, exist everywhere in the ocean except at the equator; their frequencies are largely determined by the local inertial frequency, f. It is thought that they supply about 25% of the energy for global ocean mixing through turbulence resulting from their strong current shear and breaking; this contributes mainly to upper-ocean mixing which is related to air-sea interaction, typhoon genesis, marine ecosystem, carbon cycle, and climate change. Observations and numerical simulations have shown that the low-mode NIWs can travel many hundreds of kilometres from a source region toward the equator because the lower inertial frequency at lower latitudes allows their free propagation. Here, using observations and a numerical simulation, we demonstrate poleward propagation of typhoon-induced NIWs by a western boundary current, the Kuroshio. Negative relative vorticity, meaning anticyclonic rotational tendency opposite to the Earth's spin, existing along the right-hand side of the Kuroshio path, makes the local inertial frequency shift to a lower value, thereby trapping the waves. This negative vorticity region works like a waveguide for NIW propagation, and the strong Kuroshio current advects the waves poleward with a speed similar to 85% of the local current. This finding emphasizes that background currents such as the Kuroshio and the Gulf Stream play a significant role in redistribution of the NIW energy available for global ocean mixing.
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ISSN
- 2045-2322
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URI
- https://sciwatch.kiost.ac.kr/handle/2020.kiost/566
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DOI
- 10.1038/s41598-019-46364-9
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Bibliographic Citation
- SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v.9, 2019
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Publisher
- NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
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Subject
- OCEAN; OSCILLATIONS
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Type
- Article
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Language
- English
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Document Type
- Article
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