HIGH-SALINITY INTERMEDIATE WATER IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE JAPAN SEA

I. A. Zhabin, S. N. Taranova, and L. D. Talley

Characteristics of high-salinity intermediate water in the northern region of the Japan Sea are studied from CTD data. The range of depths of the internediatae salinity maximum is 100—600 dbar, the salinity is 34.070—34.097 psu, the potential temperature is 0.5—1.5ºC, and the potential density is 27.28—27.33σθ. The processes that determine the formation of this water mass are examined from analysis of long-term data. The salinity maximum in the intermediate layer is mainly formed by winter cooling and subsequent convection of high-salinity waters of the Tsushima Current and the northeastern part of the sea. The most favorable conditions for the origin of high-salinity intermediate water exist in the central part of the Japan Sea Basin east of 135ºE.