Many shallow tidal areas show the occurrence of ebb and flood surplusses, organized in cell-like structures or ‘tidal residual eddies’. They seem to arise from a nonlinear transfer of vorticity from the oscillating tidal field to the mean field, the irregular structure of the bottom topography or the coastline acting as a catalyst to produce the necessary vorticity gradients. The dynamical characteristics of the eddies assist our understanding of the geomorphology of the sea bed.

Dynamics, diffusion and geomorphological significance of tidal residual eddies

The tidal whirlpool: a review of horizontal dispersion by tidal and residual currents

On the origin of the Tsushima Warm Current and its seasonality

We have investigated the characteristics of tides and tidal currents in the Indonesian Seas, with particular emphasis on the predominant constituents, the barotropic M2 and K1 components. The calculated harmonic constants of the M2 and K1 tides agree well with those obtained from extensive tide gauge observations: the mean root-mean-square errors between models and observations for M2 and K1 over the entire Indonesian Seas are 11.2 and 8.65 cm, respectively, smaller than previous studies. The features of the tidal current field are qualitatively similar to those reported by Wyrtki [1961]. Relatively strong tidal currents are found in the Java Sea and in the vicinities of the narrow straits, such as the Lombok and Malacca Straits. Tracking of numerous labeled particles in the calculated velocity field clearly shows that the tidal currents play essential roles in the transport and mixing processes in the Indonesian Seas. For example, in the eastern Indonesian Seas a significant clockwise residual circulation appears around Buru Island, due primarily to the tidal rectification over variable bottom topography, with a minor impact from the nonlinear effects around narrow straits. The tide-induced residual transport from the Seram Sea to the eastern Banda Sea attains about 3.8 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3 s−1), comparable to that of the Indo-Pacific throughflow along the eastern route. In the western Indonesian Seas (the Java Sea and the Makassar Strait) the residual transport is much smaller than the throughflow transport along the western route. Our result suggests, however, that the properties of water flowing through this route could be modified by strong tidal mixing around the shelf of the southern Makassar Strait and the Lombok Strait.

Tidal currents in the Indonesian Seas and their effect on transport and mixing

The Seto Inland Sea is a representative coastal sea in Japan with a complicated geometry and thus a variety of marine environments. This sea is, at the same time, one of the most industrialized areas in Japan, and its marine environment has been significantly affected by the anthropogenic impacts over the last four decades. The wide range of marine environments in this sea and the serious environmental issues resulting from these impacts have attracted the attention of Japanese coastal oceanographers. It is believed that the nature and scope of these studies might be an example of the progress of Japanese coastal oceanography. The historical changes in the Seto Inland Sea environment in the last four decades are briefly summarized, and the progress in the studies of the Seto Inland Sea is reviewed with reference to historical changes. Some recent research topics and activities are also mentioned.

http://faculty.petra.ac.id/dwikris/docs/cvitae/docroot/html/www.terrapub.co.jp/journals/JO/pdf/5801/58010093.pdf

Progress in Seto Inland Sea Research

Constant flows, as well as oscillatory tidal flow, play an important role in the long-term dispersion of water in the Seto Inland Sea. Two kinds of numerical model (1-line and 2-line models) of the Seto Inland Sea have been developed to determine the role of density-induced currents, one type of the constant flow, in water dispersion in the Inland Sea. The seasonal variations of temperature, salinity and density fields are simulated and the density-induced current field is predicted at the same time. It is found that the most appropriate value of the longitudinal eddy diffusion coefficient,K
x, is 5×106−7×106 cm2sec−1. The value of the overall mean dispersion coefficient is of the order of 107cm2sec−1 (Hayami and Unoki, 1970). Consequently, it is suggested that 50–70% of the total dispersion in the Seto Inland Sea can be attributed to currents other than density-induced currents,i.e., tidal currents, tide-induced currents and wind-driven currents. In winter, both density and velocity fields, calculated using the 1-line model, satisfy the conditions for the existence of a coastal front in Kii Channel and in the eastern Iyo-nada.

A numerical simulation of the distribution of water temperature and salinity in the Seto Inland Sea

A fundamental mechanism of generation of the tidal residual flow, the steady or quasi-steady flow induced in the tidal current system, is studied by numerical methods. The model basin is a very simple one, a rectangular basin of 5m×10m of constant depth and with a cape of 4 m length jutting out at a right angle from the center of the longer side wall. This basin has the same topography as that studied byYanagi (1976) by means of the hydraulic model experiments.

A numerical study on the tidal residual flow

Some numerical experiments were made to examine the possibility of large anticlockwise circulation at Lake Biwa in summer caused by horizontally uniform heat flux across the lake surface. Flow is induced by the “topographic heat accumulation effect” due to the non-uniform water depth. To evaluate this flow, an axisymmetric model basin is used. Dependence of the magnitude of velocity on the horizontal and vertical Ekman numbers is also investigated. If the heating continues as long as the vertical diffusion time, fairly large velocity is created indicating a possibility that this is the origin of the lake current.

Development of the current induced by the topographic heat accumulation (I)

Some numerical experiments are made using a linear barotropic model of Lake Biwa to investigate the current induced by the spatially uniform wind stress. Concerning the phenomena whose time scale is longer than the inertial period, we integrate the non-divergent vorticity equation.It is found that the “topographic curl” of the wind stress which comes from the bottom topography and the wind stress induces circular currents and that the current, generated by the wind, attenuates gradually accompanying the topographic Rossby wave whose period is about 9 half-pendulum days in Lake Biwa. This mechanism of the barotropic response of the lake water to the wind will explain well the unsteady lake current in Lake Biwa in winter.

Study on the currents in Lake Biwa (II): Barotropic responses to the uniform wind of a finite duration

Several numerical experiments were carried out on the formation of water masses and their fronts such as observed in the Kii Channel in winter. Such water masses and fronts may caused by density-induced current system. The phenomenon is assumed to take place in the vertical two-dimensional plane not involving the effect of the earth's rotation. The linear momentum equation and the diffusion-advection equations of salinity and temperature are integrated with respect to time under a vertically hydrostatic condition. The result is that two rolls which correspond to the onshore water mass and the offshore water mass are formed with an accompanying front between them. The apparent diffusion coefficient reaches a relatively great amount inside the water masses and drops down to the eddy diffusivity level at the front. The dependence of the synoptic distributions of the temperature and salinity on several parameters is also examined. Finally another experiment is carried out involving the effect of the earth's rotation, which results in a rather different distribution pattern from that of the non-rotating model.

Yukio Oonishi

Papers

A numerical simulation of the distribution of water temperature and salinity in the Seto Inland Sea

A numerical study on the tidal residual flow

Development of the current induced by the topographic heat accumulation (I)

Study on the currents in Lake Biwa (II): Barotropic responses to the uniform wind of a finite duration

Formation of water masses and fronts due to density-induced current system