NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE Modeling and Verification of the Subsurface Current Core of the Ryukyu Current

Abstract

In recent years, several observations based on direct current measurements and model simulations have been successful in detecting a north east ward under current, _ Ryukyu _ along the Pacific side of the Ryukyu Is lands with a unique _ north east ward current _ structure. The volume transport (20 - 25 Sv) of the Ryukyu current completes the volume transport budget (45 - 50 Sv) of the Kuroshio system. A Pacific Ocean circulation model based on the RIAM Ocean Model (RIAMOM) with _ resolution success fully reproduced the observed structures of the north east ward Ryukyu Current with a subsurface core at 500 - 600 m. A three-layer model simulation shows the existence of the Ryukyu Current and explains the mechanism of subsurface current maximum through blocking effect of bottom topography around the Ryukyu Islands.

Keywords

• geophysics
• geology
• atmospheric science
• space science
• oceanic science
• hydrology