Abstract
Current measurements made in the Taiwan Strait from March to July 1984, confirmed old ship reports that flow was toward the north in both summer and winter. The flow consists of three parts: a steady current which is about 27 cm sec−1 in both seasons, a long-period (period longer than 20 days) fluctuating component which varies with the reverse of wind direction between seasons (monsoon wind), and a short-period (period in the range of 3 to 20 days) fluctuating component which is closely related to the frontal passages and appears only in winter. Thus, a permanent source must exist at the southern end of the strait that drives the steady flow to the north regardless of season. The northward mean flow is then modulated by the seasonal wind field, and hence, shows different characteristics between seasons.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chase, R.R.P. (1979): The coastal longshore pressure gradient: temporal variations and driving mechanisms. J. Geophys. Res.,84, 4899–4904.
Chen, J., Z. Fu, and F. Li (1982): A Study of upwelling over Minan-Taiwan shoal fishing ground. Taiwan Strait,1, 5–13 (in Chinese).
Chuang, W.-S. (1985): Dynamics of subtidal flow in the Taiwan Strait. J. Oceanogr. Soc. Japan,41, 65–72.
Emery, K.O. and R.E. Stevenson (1972): Taiwan—a ship at sea. Acta Oceanogr. Taiwanica,2, 1–10.
Guan, B. and H. Mao (1982): A note on circulation of the East China Sea. Chinese J. Oceanogr. Limnol.,1, 6–16.
Hsueh, Y. and R.D. Romea (1983): A comparison of observed and geostrophically calculated winter time surface winds over the East China Sea. J. Geophys. Res.,88, 9588–9594.
Niino, H. and K.O. Emery (1961): Sediments of shallow portions of East China Sea and South China Sea. Geol. Soc. America Bull.,72, 731–762.
Nitani, H. (1972): Beginning of the Kuroshio. In: Kuroshio, Its Physical Aspects, ed. by H. Stommel and K. Yoshida, Univ. Tokyo Press, Tokyo, pp. 129–163.
Scott, J.T. and G.T. Csanady (1976): Nearshore currents off Long Island. J. Geophys. Res.,81, 5401–5409.
Walters, R.A. and C. Heston (1982): Removing tidal-period variations from time-series data using low-pass digital filters. J. Phys. Oceanogr.,12, 112–115.
Wyrtki, K. (1961): Physical oceanography of the southeast Asian waters, scientific results of marine investigations of the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand, 1959–1961. Naga Report,2, 195pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chuang, WS. A note on the driving mechanisms of current in the Taiwan Strait. J Oceanogr 42, 355–361 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02110430
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02110430