Because the subtropics occupies a large area of the Pacific Ocean, it is one of the important areas where the air-sea CO2 flux, and the factors controlling this, should be clarified. In the western North Pacific subtropical gyre is the Kuroshio, known as a western boundary current. The Kuroshio carries relatively warm and salty waterfrom the south. South of the Kuroshio extension front, subtropical mode water forms by significant deepening of the mixed layer in winter (Suga and Hanawa 1990), and the formation, and transport, of mode water play an important role in the uptake of anthropogenic CO2 (Sabine et al. 2004; Rodgers et al. 2008). The Oyashio-Kuroshio transition region lies to the north of the Kuroshio extension front, which is influenced by both the Kuroshio and the Oyashio. In the Oyashio-Kuroshio transition region there are irregularly distributed eddies and thermohaline fronts (Kawai 1972).(…)
Yoshikawa-Inoue H., Midorikawa T. & Takamura T. R., 2014. Temporal and spatial variations in carbonate system and air-sea CO2 flux in the Kuroshio and Kuroshio Extension. In Uematsu M., Yokouchi Y., Watanabe Y. W., Takeda S. & Yamanaka Y. (Eds.), Western Pacific Air-Sea Interaction Study pp. 151-161. Article.
