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Structure and dynamics of the sudden acceleration of Kuroshio off Cape Shionomisaki

“…As a result, the surface temperature to the east of the Kii Peninsula was colder than to the west. Similar isotherm structures were found in the observation by Nagata et al (1999) (their Fig. 2).…”

“…The flow slightly shifted its direction southward and separated from the coast at Shionomisaki. This slight offshore shift was noted by Shuto (1979), and the separation from the coast was discussed by Nagata et al (1999). The Kii Peninsula created a velocity shadow to the east, and the slow velocity in the Kumano-Nada region and the accelerated velocity of the Kuroshio formed a sharp gradient.…”

“…On the upstream side, the Kuroshio approached the west coast of the Kii Peninsula, and the flow a b Fig. 3 Takeuchi et al 1998;Nagata et al 1999;Uchida et al 2000;Hukuda et al 2002). The southeastward current continued into the accelerated flow downstream from the tip of Shionomisaki.…”

“…It has been long known that the sea level difference between the regions west and east of the Kii Peninsula increases when the Kuroshio takes the non-large-meander path (Kawabe 1989;Nagata et al 1999;Sekine and Fujita 1999). The sea level difference between Kushimoto and Uragami (see Fig.…”

“…In terms of nonlinearity, Nagata et al (1999) studied the centrifugal force along the bottom slope near Cape Shionomisaki. However, their focus was on the flow separation of the Kuroshio from the coast to the east of Cape Shionomisaki, and not its acceleration.…”