Influence of the Amur River Runoff on the Hydrological Conditions of the Amur Liman and Sakhalin Bay (Sea of Okhotsk) during the Spring-Summer Flood

I. A. Zhabin, A. A. Abrosimova, V. A. Dubina, and D. A. Nekrasov

Hydrographic and satellite observation data obtained in June 2007 enabled to study the influence of the Amur River runoff on the hydrological conditions of the Amur Liman and the Sea of Okhotsk during the spring-summer flood. Salt waters from the Sea of Japan and fresh Amur River waters mix in the estuary (the Amur Liman). Freshened waters flow from the estuary into the Sea of Okhotsk as a jet-like flow drift, which forms a recirculating anticyclonic gyre in the Sakhalin Bay. The coastal current associated with the Amur River flow was obserwed near Sakhalin Island coast. The computed values of dynamic parameters (Kelvin number K = 2, Froude number F = 0.4) showed that the Earth rotation and stratification are important factors in the dynamical balance of the Amur River plume during the spring-summer flood event.