The Nascent Kuroshio of Lamon Bay

A northward flowing current, emanating from the North Equatorial Current (NEC) bifurcation at the Philippine margin, enters Lamon Bay along Luzon's eastern coast. There the NEC tropical water masses merge with subtropical water of the western North Pacific to form the Kuroshio. A northward flowing western boundary current is first observed near 16.5°N, marking the initiation of the Kuroshio. The current feeding into the nascent Kuroshio of Lamon Bay is bracketed by an anticyclonic dipole to its northeast and a cyclonic dipole to its southwest. Ship based observational programs in the spring seasons of 2011 and 2012, detect a shift of the Lamon Bay thermohaline stratification with marked enrichment of NEC tropical thermocline water in 2012 relative to a dominant western North Pacific subtropical stratification of 2011. Temperature - salinity time series from moorings spanning the two ship based observations, identify the timing of the transition as December 2011. The NEC bifurcation was further south in May 2012 than in May 2011. We suggest that the more southern bifurcation in May 2012 induced increased NEC thermocline water injection into Lamon Bay and nascent Kuroshio, increasing the linkage of the western North Pacific subtropical and tropical thermoclines. This connection was reduced in May 2011 as the NEC bifurcation shifted into a more northerly position and western North Pacific subtropical thermocline dominated Lamon Bay stratification

Modification of the throughflow water properties in the Indonesian seas

Vertical mixing in the Indonesian Seas has been considered to be responsible for the apparent freshness of the throughflow when 'it enters the Indian Down. A three-dimensional primitive equation numerical model of the Indonesian Seas forced with a prescribed throughflow, transport consisting of North Pacific waters, is used to determine local dynamic processes which may modify the characteristics of the throughflow properties. The lack of long-term current measurements in the Indonesian Seas presents some difficulties in determining the certainty of the derived velocity fields. As an alternative, the model temperature and salinity fields are compared to observed hydrographic data which has a relatively better coverage throughout the Indonesian Seas. A 15 Sv net transport through the Indonesian Seas is suggested based on the model’s more realistic reproduction of the hydrographic structure compared to a throughflow with a smaller magnitude. A pure North Pacific source for the throughflow is also not capable of producing the salinity structure in the Banda Sea as suggested by previous studies and the required amount of salt to fit the model salinity structure with observations in the Banda Sea is estimated to be 3.3x10‘3 kg. Most of the throughflow transport occurs in western boundary flows and is largely topographically controlled. The separation of an upper and lower layer circulation pattern is controlled by the depth of the sill in Makassar Strait. Vertical excursions in the vicinity of this sill seen level of the in model results coincide upper salinity maximum with regions where are found. Seasonal large horizontal gradients at the upwelling and longer residence times due to weaker flows in the Banda Sea results in a more effective mixing of the already weakened salinity structure of the waters from Makassar Strait/Flores Sea. Net heat and freshwater flux estimates also reveal significant departures at 200 up to 100 m between the Pacific inflow and Indian outflow, suggesting the considerable redistribution of heat and salt in the Indonesian Seas

Dual overflows into the deep Sulu Sea

The Sulu Sea, isolated from the neighboring ocean below 570 m, is nearly isothermal below 1250 m but with a marked salinity increase with depth. The source of the deep Sulu Sea water has been attributed to South China Sea water overflowing the 570 m topographic sill of Panay Strait. However, the Panay overflow (estimated as 0.32 × 106 m3/sec) is an unlikely source for the saltier water Sulu Sea deep water. We propose that deep Sulu Sea ventilation is derived from the south, from the Sulawesi Sea through Sibutu Passage. Sulawesi Sea water between 245 to 527 m, is mixed and heaved over the Sibutu Passage 234 m sill by the energetic tidal environment. Oxygen concentrations within the deep Sulu Sea suggest that the Sulawesi overflow is 0.15 × 106 m3/sec, with a residence time of Sulu Sea deep water of 60 years. The deep tropical Sulu Sea has the unique distinction of being ventilated from two separate sources, whose ratio may fluctuate across a range of temporal scales, associated with regional thermocline depth changes

Tidally Driven Exchange in an Archipelago Strait: Biological and Optical Responses

Measurements in San Bernardino Strait, one of two major connections between the Pacific Ocean and the interior waters of the Philippine Archipelago, captured 2-3 m s(-1) tidal currents that drove vertical mixing and net landward transport. A TRIAXUS towed profiling vehicle equipped with physical and optical sensors was used to repeatedly map subregions within the strait, employing survey patterns designed to resolve tidal variability of physical and optical properties. Strong flow over the sill between Luzon and Capul islands resulted in upward transport and mixing of deeper high-salinity, low-oxygen, high-particle-and-nutrient-concentration water into the upper water column, landward of the sill. During the high-velocity ebb flow, topography influences the vertical distribution of water, but without the diapycnal mixing observed during flood tide. The surveys captured a net landward flux of water through the narrowest part of the strait. The tidally varying velocities contribute to strong vertical transport and diapycnal mixing of the deeper water into the upper layer, contributing to the observed higher phytoplankton biomass within the interior of the strait

Urban coral reefs: Degradation and resilience of hard coral assemblages in coastal cities of East and Southeast Asia

© 2018 The Author(s) Given predicted increases in urbanization in tropical and subtropical regions, understanding the processes shaping urban coral reefs may be essential for anticipating future conservation challenges. We used a case study approach to identify unifying patterns of urban coral reefs and clarify the effects of urbanization on hard coral assemblages. Data were compiled from 11 cities throughout East and Southeast Asia, with particular focus on Singapore, Jakarta, Hong Kong, and Naha (Okinawa). Our review highlights several key characteristics of urban coral reefs, including “reef compression” (a decline in bathymetric range with increasing turbidity and decreasing water clarity over time and relative to shore), dominance by domed coral growth forms and low reef complexity, variable city-specific inshore-offshore gradients, early declines in coral cover with recent fluctuating periods of acute impacts and rapid recovery, and colonization of urban infrastructure by hard corals. We present hypotheses for urban reef community dynamics and discuss potential of ecological engineering for corals in urban areas

Sea Level and Shallow Water Current Variability in Pagasa Island, Philippines

Significant wave height, sea level, and currents at 0, 2, 4, and 6m were measured using a doppler current meter deployed at the northern reef of Pagasa Island from 16 October 1997 to 3 March 1998. Tidal components of sea level and current data were extracted using harmonic analysis and subtracted from the original series to obtain residuals. These were then correlated with each other and with atmospheric variables (wind speed and atmospheric pressure). The tidal components accounted for about 98% of the variance in sea level but only 4-5% of the variance in the currents. Power spectral density correlations indicate that residual sea level variations may be due to set-up by wave action. Strong non-tidal residual components of the flow suggest conditions favorable for offshore transport which may promote long-distance dispersal of propagules

The influence of the Bass Strait outflow on the Tasman Sea central water

An advective box—model based on mass and salt conservation arguments and volume of Tasman Sea Central Water for different temperatures and salinities has been used to determine the influence of the seasonal outflow from Bass Strait on the Tasman Sea thermocline as well as to identify the regions where previously observed strong positive salinity anomalies occur. Of the total salt flux into the layer bounded by the 25.73 and 26.96 at isopycnal surface s, about 8% is supplied by the prescribed Bass Strait transport of 0.45 Sv while 34% is accounted for by downwelling from the overlying high salinity water. The highest vertical salt flux occurs in the Southern Tasman Sea somewhere between 37° and 43° S. This corresponds to the region where positive salinity anomalies were found to occur, characterized by large salinity gradients and the existence of offshore salinity maxima along isothermal and isopycnal surfaces. The distribution of the Bass Strait Water volume in the Tasman Sea displays a similar pattern suggesting that the seasonal intrusion of BSW may act as a trigger to entrain high salinity water from the upper layers by double diffusive convection. Double —diffusive arguments are also presented to explain some of the features of the intrusion of Bass Strait Water in the Tasman Sea