Title: Subthermocline eddies observed by rapid-sampling Argo floats in the subtropical northwestern Pacific Ocean in Spring 2014

Journal: Geophysical Research Letters, 42: 6438-6445

Authors: ZHANG Z. -W., P. -L. Li, L. -X. Xu, C. Li, W. Zhao*, J. -W. Tian, and T. -D. Qu

Abstract:In Spring 2014, two subthermocline eddies (STEs) were observed by rapid-sampling Argo floats in the subtropical northwestern Pacific (STNWP). The first one is a warm, salty, and oxygen-poor lens, with its temperature/salinity /dissolved oxygen (T/S/DO) anomalies reaching 1.16°C/0.21 practical salinity unit (psu)/-29.9 μmol/kg, respectively, near the 26.62σ0 surface. The other is a cold, fresh, and oxygen-rich lens, with its T/S/DO anomalies reaching -1.95°C/-0.34 psu/88.0 μmol/kg, respectively, near the 26.54σ0 surface. The vertical extent of the water mass anomalies in the warm (cold) STE is about 190m (150 m), and its horizontal length scale is 22 ± 7 km (18 ± 10 km). According to their water mass properties, we speculate that the warm and cold STEs are generated in the North Pacific Subtropical and Subarctic Front region, respectively. The observed STEs may play an important role in modifying the intermediate-layer water properties in the STNWP, and this needs to be confirmed by more focused observations in the future.