TRANSFORMATION OF NORTH PACIFIC INTERMEDIATE WATERS IN THE KURIL—KAMCHATKA REGION

I. A. Zhabin

Data of CTD measurements obtained in the spring of 1991 in the Kuril—Kamchatka region are used to study transformation of North Pacific intermediate water on the western periphery of the subarctic gyre. Analysis of the thermohaline water structure has shown that in winter the upper layer is directly ventilated down to the 26.5—26.65σθ surfaces. The upper part of the intermediate layer (26.8—26.9 σθ) is modified by intensive mixing off the east coast of Kamchatka and water exchange with the Sea of Okhotsk in the area of the Kuril Islands. The middle and lower parts of the intermediate layer (27.1—27.4 σθ) are transformed only by mixing of Okhotsk and subarctic waters.

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