Thresholds in East Asian marginal seas circulation due to deglacial sea level rise

Abstract East Asian marginal seas (EAMS) circulation is closely configurated by sea level rise during the last deglaciation. Here, we perform simulations to reconstruct the EAMS circulation on the basis of sea levels from −90 to 0 m of the present, using a high-resolution regional ocean circulation...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xun Gong, Yang Yu, Xuefa Shi, Xiaopei Lin, Guangliang Liu, Zhi Dong, Xuesong Wang, Jiong Zheng, Lester Lembke-Jene, Gerrit Lohmann
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-03-01
Series:npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-00927-y
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Summary:Abstract East Asian marginal seas (EAMS) circulation is closely configurated by sea level rise during the last deglaciation. Here, we perform simulations to reconstruct the EAMS circulation on the basis of sea levels from −90 to 0 m of the present, using a high-resolution regional ocean circulation model under present-day fixed surface and lateral boundary conditions. Our results show that the EAMS circulation underwent twice abrupt changes: a rapid initiation of its modern structure when sea level rise exceeded −40 m, followed by a temporary overshoot of the Japan-Sea throughflows at −5 m. These nonlinear processes are caused by the opening of the Soya Strait and thus formation of the modern EAMS-circulation structure, and a transient absence of the circulation resembling a Kuroshio Large Meander following around-island integral constraint, respectively. Conceptually, our findings introduce the around-island integral constraint on abrupt shift in the global marginal-sea circulation during the last deglaciation.
ISSN:2397-3722