Hidetaka Takeoka

Fundamental concepts of exchange and transport time scales in a coastal sea

Abstract Concepts of age, residence time, transit time, and turn-over time are summarized which are useful for describing the exchange and transport of water or materials in a coastal sea. The age of a particle is defined as a time which has elapsed since it entered the reservoir, and the residence time is defined as a time which will be taken for a particle to reach the outlet. Time scales based on the age are simply related with those based on the residence time. It is shown that a suitable time scale for representing the exchange characteristics is the average residence time and not the turnover time, which has often been used as the exchange time scale. Further, the ‘remnant function’ which describes the phenomena of exchange or transport is introduced, and is related to the residence time. Exchange and transport time scales in a coastal sea are discussed on the basis of the residence time which can be applied to not only steady-state cases, but also the cases where material is injected instantaneously. The average residence time in a one-dimensional channel and bay is obtained from the solutions of the advection-diffusion equation. If we know a flow speed and diffusion coefficient in a channel or bay regarded as one-dimensional, we can translate them into the average residence time. As an example, the average residence time of the Seto Inland Sea is discussed.

Fate of the insecticide HCH in the tropical coastal area of South India

Abstract The residue levels of the insecticide HCH in Vellar estuary, Tamil Nadu, South India were surveyed along with the physical structure of estuary and its hydrokinetic parameters to assess the transport of contaminants in tropical coastal areas. From the flux model it was estimated that most of the HCH applied to the catchment area of Vellar river is removed to the air and only a small part of it was drained to the sea. Compared to the present situation, the flux of HCH to the sea seems to be much larger in the past when the river structure was different from the present. This implies that at present the localized contamination of HCH in the sea is reducing: instead more rapid contamination is advancing on global terms due to the ‘long-range atmospheric transport’ of residues from the ‘point-source’ areas.

Progress in Seto Inland Sea Research

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.

Exchange and transport time scales in the Seto Inland Sea

Abstract Five typical water volumes in the Seto Inland Sea are defined, and their average residence times, remnant functions, and residence time distribution functions are obtained, mainly from results of hydraulic model experiments; the average residence times and the functions well describe characteristics of exchange and transport of materials in the sea. A representative residence time, which is the average residence time of the total water in the inland sea, is about 15 months.

The Kyucho in the Bungo Channel, Japan —Periodic intrusion of oceanic warm water

Abstract“Kyucho” is a sudden and swift current which is usually accompanied by rise of water temperature. Several features of the Kyucho in the Bungo Channel, Japan, are presented through field observations. The Kyucho in the Bungo Channel is an intrusion of warm water from the Pacific Ocean into the eastern half of the Bungo Channel, being driven gravitationally and advancing along the eastern coast of the channel. The Kyucho occurs usually in summer and seldom occurs in winter. It occurs at neap tides showing the prominent spring-neap periodicity. The modulation of the vertical mixing intensity associated with the variations of tidal current, wind and surface heating etc. is supposed to be a main cause of springneap and seasonal periodicities.

Periodic Intrusion of Cold Water from the Pacific Ocean into the Bottom Layer of the Bungo Channel in Japan

A cold-water intrusion, called a “bottom intrusion”, occurs in the lower layer of the Bungo Channel in Japan. It is an intrusion from the shelf slope region of the Pacific Ocean margin in the south of the channel. In order to reveal the fundamental characteristics of the bottom intrusion, we conducted long-term observations of water temperature at the surface and bottom layers of the channel and 15-day current observations at the bottom of the shelf-break region. The long-term water temperature data indicated that the bottom intrusion occurs repeatedly between early summer and late autumn, and its reiteration between early and mid-summer causes a local minimum of water temperature in the lower layer in mid-summer. Moreover, the data revealed that most of the bottom intrusions occurred in neap tidal periods. The current meter recorded a bottom intrusion with a speed of approximately 15 cm⋅s−1. The current meter also revealed that the intruded cold water slowly retreated back to the shelf slope region after the intrusion.

Observation of the Kyucho in the Bungo Channel by HF Radar

Observations of sea surface currents by HF radar were carried out in the Bungo Channel in summer 1992. The current ellipses of M2 constituent obtained by the observational results agree quite well with those obtained by the ADCP observations, showing that the accuracy of the HF radar measurements is of the same level as ADCP. The results revealed the current structures and their change with the Kyucho in detail. The Kyucho is influenced by the complicated coastal geometry and does not propagate straightly into the Bungo Channel. It propagates further inward after charging the coastal bays with warm water. The current directions change largely, since the currents turn around the stagnant region in the bay filled with the warm water. The northward intrusion begins to be weakened in the southern part of the channel, while it still persists in the northern part. The northward current speeds of the observed Kyucho are about 50 cm/s and sometimes attain 60 to 70 cm/s.

Persistent organochlorines in coastal fronts

Abstract In view of environmental contamination, the function of tidal and thermohaline fronts was examined in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. These fronts have a potency to elevate the concentrations of persistent organochlorines not only in surface water but also in organisms and sediments. The enrichment of organochlorines during the formation of the front was more pronounced for lipophilic contaminants with higher particle affinity, probably due to the amassment of oily substances and various particles through the surface convergence. The coastal fronts may play a significant role in determining the fate of persistent contaminants in the marine environment.

TheKyucho in Uwajima Bay

The phenomenon of rapid increase in water temperature accompanied by a sudden, swift current (Kyucho) in Uwajima Bay is described on the basis of results of long term observations from July 1985 to September 1986. This phenomenon occurs somewhat periodically with an interval of about 15 days in summer, although it does not occur in winter. The increase in water temperature occasionally reaches about 5°C. This phenomenon results from the intrusion of a warm water mass into the bay. NOAA-9 satellite images show that the warm water mass originates from the Pacific Ocean south of the Bungo Channel.

Processes Causing the Chlorophyll a Maximum in the Tidal Front in Iyo-Nada, Japan

A field survey was undertaken to reveal the structure of the tidal front in Iyo-nada. An obvious tidal front was found between the mixed region around Hayasui Straits and the stratified region in Iyo-Nada. Its structure was typical in the eastern part and was influenced by the river discharge in the western part. An intense chlorophylla maximum was found in the subsurface layer of the eastern typical front. Analysis using TS diagram suggested that, around the eastern front, there was an intrusion from the mixed water to the middle layer of the stratified water. This intrusion was supposed to be an important process supplying nutrients from the mixed water to the subsurface of the frontal region and causing the intense chlorophylla maximum.