Seasonal variation of volume transport in the major inflow region of the Taiwan Strait: The Penghu Channel
Journal
Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography
Journal Volume
50
Journal Issue
6-7
Pages
1117-1126
Date Issued
2003
Author(s)
Chao, S.-Y.
Abstract
Eight cruises of current measurements along a zonal transect (∼31.84 km) across the major inflow region of the Taiwan Strait, the Penghu Channel, were carried out using the shipboard Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler during 1999-2001. On each cruise, the measurement was repeated twice along the transect with a time lag of 6 h and 12 min, and the repeated data were averaged to eliminate the dominant semidiurnal tidal currents. Velocities, after removing semidiurnal tides, suggest a strong northward flow in the channel, with a speed of about 100 cm/s in the upper 50 m in summer. The northward flow becomes much weaker in winter. The calculated throughflow transports vary seasonally and are correlated with the change of the East Asia monsoon. The estimated transport is around 0 during the peak northeast monsoon in winter, increases from 0.5 to 1 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3/s) as the northeast monsoon weakens in spring, peaks to 1.5 Sv at the end of southwest monsoon in summer, and decreases rapidly from 1.5 to 0 Sv when the northeast monsoon intensifies in fall, The error, mostly induced by unfiltered diurnal tidal currents, is estimated to be±0.20 Sv in the transport calculation. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
SDGs
Type
journal article