• Ocean Science Journal
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.101-107
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• 2005

A simple analytical model is considered in an attempt to demonstrate a formation mechanism of the abyssal current in the East Sea. In this model, the abyssal currents are driven by wind through an outcrop region and flow along closed geostrophic contours. A rough estimate of the abyssal currents, arrived at by applying this model to the region of deep mixing in the East Sea, gives currents comparable to those observed, although there is an uncertainty in the surface area of the outcrop region. It seems that the spin-up of deep water by wind forcing through the region of deep winter mixing is, at least partly, an important contribution to the formation of the abyssal currents in the East Sea.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.311-321
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• 2009

Three categories (freshwater, amphidromous, and marine fishes) of Taiwanese fishes are analyzed on the basis of zoogeographic elements, viz. China element, Indo-China element, Indo-West Pacific element, Indo-Pacific element, North-Pacific element, Japan-Oregon element, and circumtropical element. Freshwater fishes, which include the China and Indo-China elements, are distributed on part of the boundary area between the Palaearctic and Oriental regions of Wallace (1876). Diadromous fishes include the North-Pacific, Indo-China and Indo-West Pacific elements. Taiwanese salmon, a landlocked (initially diadromous) species that became established in Taiwan between 0.5 my B.P. and the early Pleistocene, is recognized as a distinct taxon included within the Oncorhynchus masou complex, which comprises here three species and two subspecies, viz. Oncorhynchus masou masou (Sancheoneo, Songeo, Sakura-masu or Yamame), O. masou ishikawae (Satsuki-masu or Amago), O. sp. (Biwa-masu), and O. formosanus (Taiwanese salmon), based on molecular, morphological and biological studies. Marine fishes are discussed under the following headings, brackish-water fishes (fishes of brackish waters and seas adjacent to continental coastlines, North Pacific and Indo-West Pacific elements; fishes of brackish waters and seas primarily around islands, Indo-West Pacific element), reef fishes (fishes of inshore reefs along continental coastlines from 0 to ca.100 m depth, Indo-West Pacific element; fishes of inshore reefs primarily around islands from 0 to ca.100 m depth, Indo-West Pacific element; fishes of offshore reefs along continental shelf edges from ca.150 to 300 m depth, circumtropical and Indo-Pacific elements; fishes of offshore reefs primarily around islands from ca.150 to 300 m depth, Indo-Pacific element), demersal fishes (fishes on continental shelves shallower than ca.150 m depth, Indo-West Pacific and Japan-Oregon elements; fishes on edges and upper continental slopes from ca.150 m to 500 m depth, Indo-West Pacific, Indo-Pacific, and circumtropical elements; fishes on lower continental slopes to abyssal plains from ca.500 m to 6,000 m depth, circumtropical element and rarely Indo-Pacific element), pelagic fishes (epipelagic fishes from 0 to ca.150 m depth, Indo-West Pacific, Indo-Pacific or circumtropical elements; meso- and bathypelagic fishes from ca.150 to 3,000 m depth, circumtropical element). The distribution of Taiwanese marine fishes are influenced by the Kuroshio Current, low-salinity and low-temperature waters from mainland China, and sea-bottom topography.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.146-155
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• 1986

Zooplankton samples of upper 50m layer in May, 1985 and of various depth intervals depending on thermal structure in October, 1985 were analyzed. Standing stock represents mean of 538inds/㎥ in spring and 267 inds/㎥ and 508inds/㎥ of whole column mean and surface layer in fall, respectively. A total of 55 and 104taxa is identified in each season and accumulated data list at least 123 species inhabiting in the study area. Copepods dominate in the zooplankton community, followed by protozoans and appendicularians in both seasons. In surface layer, distribution of subtropical species and standing stock seems to illuminate the effects of the Tsushima Current and the North Korean Cold Watermass in cold season, whereas only standing stock shows discernable variation in warm season. Concerning whole water column, depth of permanent thermocline bottom, at about 120m in fall 1985, plays significant role as a barrier to the distribution of mesopelagic cold water species. Serial sampling in October, 1985 does not reveal any perceivable diel vertical migration, which is considered to confirm the earlier suggest that owing to the lack of true abyssal species zooplankton biomass of deeper gayer is very poor, so that diel vertical migration of the East Sea is weak.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2023

The East Sea, one of the regions where the most rapid warming is occurring, is known to have important implications for the response of the ocean to future climate changes because it not only reacts sensitively to climate change but also has a much shorter turnover time (hundreds of years) than the ocean (thousands of years). However, the processes underlying changes in seawater characteristics at the sea's deep and abyssal layers, and meridional overturning circulation have recently been examined only after international cooperative observation programs for the entire sea allowed in-situ data in a necessary resolution and accuracy along with recent improvement in numerical modeling. In this review, previous studies on the physical characteristics of seawater at deeper parts of the East Sea, and meridional overturning circulation are summarized to identify any remaining issues. The seawater below a depth of several hundreds of meters in the East Sea has been identified as the Japan Sea Proper Water (East Sea Proper Water) due to its homogeneous physical properties of a water temperature below 1℃ and practical salinity values ranging from 34.0 to 34.1. However, vertically high-resolution salinity and dissolved oxygen observations since the 1990s enabled us to separate the water into at least three different water masses (central water, CW; deep water, DW; bottom water, BW). Recent studies have shown that the physical characteristics and boundaries between the three water masses are not constant over time, but have significantly varied over the last few decades in association with time-varying water formation processes, such as convection processes (deep slope convection and open-ocean deep convection) that are linked to the re-circulation of the Tsushima Warm Current, ocean-atmosphere heat and freshwater exchanges, and sea-ice formation in the northern part of the East Sea. The CW, DW, and BW were found to be transported horizontally from the Japan Basin to the Ulleung Basin, from the Ulleung Basin to the Yamato Basin, and from the Yamato Basin to the Japan Basin, respectively, rotating counterclockwise with a shallow depth on the right of its path (consistent with the bottom topographic control of fluid in a rotating Earth). This horizontal deep circulation is a part of the sea's meridional overturning circulation that has undergone changes in the path and intensity. Yet, the linkages between upper and deeper circulation and between the horizontal and meridional overturning circulation are not well understood. Through this review, the remaining issues to be addressed in the future were identified. These issues included a connection between the changing properties of CW, DW, and BW, and their horizontal and overturning circulations; the linkage of deep and abyssal circulations to the upper circulation, including upper water transport from and into the Western Pacific Ocean; and processes underlying the temporal variability in the path and intensity of CW, DW, and BW.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.643-654
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• 2023

The West Philippine Basin, an oceanic basin half the size of the Philippine Sea Plate, lies in the western part of the plate and south of the Korean Peninsula on the Eurasian Plate. It subducts beneath the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Islands bordering the Ryukyu Trench and the Philippine Trench with 25-50% of this basin already consumed. However, the history of the opening of the basin's southern region has been a topic of debate. The non-transform discontinuity formed during the seafloor spreading is similar to the transform fault boundaries normally perpendicular to mid-ocean ridge axes; however, it was created irregularly due to ridge propagations caused by variations of mantle convection attributable to magma supply changes. By analyzing high-resolution multi-beam echo-sounding data, we confirmed that the non-transform discontinuity due to the propagating rift evolved in the entire basin and that the abyssal hill strike direction changed from E-W to NNW-SSE from the fossil spreading center. In the early stage of basin extension, the Amami-Sankaku Basin was rotated 90 degrees clockwise from its current orientation, and it bordered the Palau Basin along the Mindanao Fracture Zone. The Amami-Sankaku Basin separated from the Palau Basin while the spreading of the West Philippine Basin began with a counter-clockwise rotation. This indicates that the non-transform discontinuities formed by a sudden change in magma supply due to the drift of the Philippine Sea Plate and simultaneously with the rapid changes in the spreading direction from ENE-WSW to N-S. The Palau Basin was considered to be the sub-south of the West Philippine Basin, but recent studies have shown that it extends into an independent system. Evidence from sediment layers and crustal thickness hints at the possibility of its existence before the West Philippine Basin opened, although its evolution continues to be debated. We performed a combined analysis using high-resolution multi-beam bathymetry and satellite gravity data to uncover new insights into the evolution of the West Philippine Basin. This information illuminates the complex plate interactions and provides a crucial contribution toward understanding the opening history of the basin and the Philippine Sea Plate.