In order to study the characteristics of the surface circulation in Sagami Bay, long-term current measurements were carried out at five moored stations during the period from October 1982 to January 1984. The majority of current patterns show the existence of a cyclonic eddy in the bay, while at times the direction of the circulation is reversed. When the Kuroshio current flows over the Izu-Ogasawara Ridge and approaches Sagami Bay, the current that passes through the Oshima-West Channel north of Oshima Island (COWC), has a strong clockwise flow, while the counterclockwise circulation in the bay becomes intensified. When the Kuroshio shifts southward off the shore, the COWC and the flow in the bay are weak or at times reverse their directions.
A b s t r a c t : Tidal currents observed in a surface layer overlying deep water in Sagami and Suruga Bays frequently have large amplitude in summer and fall. Numerical experiments show that the current amplitude due to the surface tides is below 1.0 cm sec -1 for the semidiurnal and diurnal constituents in the inner region of the two bays. The observed current amplitudes are larger than the calculated ones due to the surface tides. Therefore, the observed tidal currents are indicated to be due mainly to the internal tides. In addition, the semidiurnal currents dominate the diurnal currents in Sagami Bay, while the opposite occurs in Suruga Bay. These results suggest that the prevailing periods of the internal tides differ between the two bays, i.e., the internal tide has a semidiurnal period in Sagami Bay and a diurnal period in Suruga Bay.
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