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Based on our previous study (Yu et al., Clim Dyn 49:1139-1156, 2017), this paper further investigates the interdecadal change in the relationship between the Kuroshio Extension (KE; 27°-37°N, 140°-158°E) and the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) in the late 1980s. The summer KE sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) show a significant positive relationship with the EASM over the period 1968-1987 (P1), but a significant negative connection with the EASM between 1991 and 2010 (P2). This interdecadal change in the KE-EASM relationship can be interpreted by considering the difference in the relationships of summer KE SSTAs with the East Asian subtropical westerly jet (EASWJ) and western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH) during the two periods. During P1, summertime KE SST warming is significantly related to the strengthened EASWJ and WNPSH, but it has close relationships with the weakened and northward-moving EASWJ and WNPSH during P2. These anomalous EASWJ and WNPSH associated with the summertime KE SST warming in P1 (P2) then favors increased (reduced) rainfall over the Yangtze River Valley that corresponds to a strong (weak) EASM, thereby leading to the significant positive (negative) KE-EASM relationship during this period. This change in the relationships of summer KE SSTAs with the EASWJ and WNPSH may be attributed to the increased KE SST variability associated with an enhanced Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) in summer during P2, which is most probably induced by the stronger North Pacific Oscillation (NPO)-like atmospheric forcing, especially its southern pole (SP), in the preceding spring during this period. The spring NPO-like SP forces the KE SSTAs and PDO more directly during the following summer and can thus have been a better precursor for the following EASM than the full NPO-like dipole after the late 1980s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Typhoons are commonly occurring disastrous events in the Western Pacific and have become more severe as the result of global climate changes, increasingly affecting the ocean and seafloor throughout the Western Pacific. However, studies on the influences of typhoon processes and dynamic mechanisms on the continental shelf remain rather limited because of insufficient observational data in the area. This paper uses observational records at a water depth of 110 m on the continental shelf of the East China Sea in the periods when the No. 1323 typhoon 'Fitow' and No. 1324 typhoon 'Danas' passed the East China Sea to study changes in the water temperature, salinity, current and turbidity. Observation results show that typhoon Fitow had limited effects on the measurement site because of the long distance to the centre of the typhoon, but during typhoon Danas, the measured surface current speed reached 2.95 m/s, and the turbidity of the sea water increased rapidly due to the vertical mixing of sea water. Typhoon Danas causes both near-inertial oscillations (NIOs) and diurnal currents to increase, which is considered to be the major factor that contributes to bottom water temperature changes and the suspension of bottom sediments after the passage of the typhoon. Typhoons can also cause the Kuroshio Current to shift towards the continental shelf, which may affect the Tsushima Current. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To study the dissolved carbonate system in the South China Sea (SCS) and to understand the water mass exchange between the SCS and the West Philippine Sea (WPS), pH, total alkalinity and total CO2 were measured aboard the R/V Ocean Researcher 1. Because of the sill that separates these two seas in the Luzon Strait with a maximum depth of 2200 m, the SCS Deep Water has characteristics similar to those of water at about 2200 m in the WPS. The minimum pH and the maxima of normalized alkalinity and total CO2 commonly found in the open oceans at mid-depth also prevail in the WPS but are, however, very weak in the SCS. Rivers and inflows from Kuroshio Surface and Deep Waters through the Luzon Strait as well as those through the Mindoro Strait transport carbon to the SCS year-round. Meanwhile, the outflowing Taiwan Strait water as well as the SCS Surface and Intermediate Waters of the Luzon Strait transports carbon out of the SCS year-round. The Sunda Shelf is also a channel for carbon transport into the SCS in the wet season and out of the SCS in the dry season. fCO2 data and mass balance calculations indicate that the SCS is a weak CO2 source in the wet season but an even weaker CO2 sink in the dry season. With these facts taken together, the SCS is likely a very weak CO2 source. Anthropogenic CO2 penetrates to about 1500 m in depth in the SCS, and the entire SCS contains 0.60±0.15×1015 g of excess carbon. Typical profiles of pH as well as the degree of saturation of each of calcite and aragonite in 1850 and 1997 are presented, and those for 2050 AD are projected. The maximum decrease in pH is estimated to be 0.16 pH units in the surface layer when the amount of CO2 is doubled. It is anticipated that aragonite in the upper continental slope will likely start to dissolve, thereby neutralizing excess CO2 by around 2050 AD. This paper is unique in that it presents the results of the first attempt ever to estimate the past, present and future physico-chemical properties of the world''s largest marginal sea. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]