• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.190-199
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• 2008

To investigate hydrographic structure and characteristics of the tropical ocean in the eastern and the western Pacific, CTD(Conductivity-Temperature-Depth) data along $131^{\circ}W$ and $137^{\circ}-142^{\circ}E$ in July-August 2005 were analyzed. Sea surface temperature along $131.5^{\circ}W$ in summer is highest in the Equatorial Counter Current(ECC) because of the high-temperature water greater than $28^{\circ}C$ moving through the ECC from the western Pacific to the eastern Pacific in spring and summer. Based on the evidence of the presence of low salinity and high dissolved oxygen water in the North Equatorial Current(NEC), we suggested that the low salinity water moved from the Gulf of Panama to the east of Philippine along the North Equatorial Current(NEC). The South Equatorial Current(SEC) had the most saline water from surface to deep layer because the saline water from the Subtropical South Pacific Ocean moved to the north. The salinity minimum layer was observed at 500-1500 m depth along $131.5^{\circ}W$. The water mass with the salinity minimum layer in the north of $5^{\circ}N$ came from the North Pacific Intermediate Water(NPIW) and that in the south of $5^{\circ}N$ came from the Antarctic Intermediate Water(AAIW), which was more saline than the NPIW. Cyclonic cold eddy with a diameter of about 200km was found in $4-6^{\circ}N$. Sea surface temperature along $131.5^{\circ}W$ in the eastern Pacific was lower than along $137^{\circ}-142^{\circ}E$ in the western Pacific; on the other hand, sea surface salinity in the eastern Pacific was higher than in the western Pacific. Subsurface saline water from the Subtropical South Pacific Ocean was less saline in the eastern Pacific than in the western Pacific. Salinity and density(${\sigma}_{\theta}$) of the salinity minimum layer south of $14^{\circ}N$ was higher in the eastern Pacific than in the western Pacific.