Seio Kuroki, a specially appointed technical researcher at the Environmental Change Prediction Research Center, Global Environment Division, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, and Hiroyasu Hagaku, a professor at the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, the University of Tokyo, have revealed that tides suppress the flow through the Seto Inland Sea. , I found that it is highly possible that the flow is heading east in the long run.
According to the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Kuroki and his colleagues used an ocean simulation model that covers the Seto Inland Sea with a horizontal 500-meter grid to investigate the effects of tides on the flow of the Seto Inland Sea.
When the simulation with the influence of the tide and the simulation without the influence of the tide were carried out, the flow was mainly eastward in both cases, but the flow rate was considerably reduced in the simulation with the influence of the tide.It has become clear that tidal currents have the effect of creating complex vortices, and that they suppress passing currents.
The Seto Inland Sea is characterized by complex topography and complex tidal currents caused by tides, and is known to generate whirlpools in the Naruto Strait, which is said to be the largest in the world.However, even the direction of the flow passing through the Seto Inland Sea on a long time scale was unknown.
The results of this research will not only have the potential to be applied to the passing currents of other straits in the world, but will also help improve the accuracy of mechanism simulations including prediction of global warming.
Paper information:[Scientific Reports] Tidal control of the flow through long, narrow straits: a modeling study for the Seto Inland Sea
