NEW ERA:The NTU team was able to learn more about the ocean with fewer personnel, by using US-made Seagilders that even the military is unable to purchase
Taipei Times
Date: Oct 03, 2019
By: Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
A team of oceanographers from National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday unveiled the first
A team of researchers, including National Taiwan University Institute of Oceanography director Jan Sen, second right, pose with a Seaglider, a US-made uncrewed underwater vehicle, at the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Chien Hui-ju, Taipei Times
While layered hydrographic structures are often observed in waters with less velocity, such as in the Arctic Ocean and currents near the equator, the team is the first to document such structures in the Kuroshio east of Taiwan, NTU Institute of Oceanography director Jan Sen (詹森) told a news conference at the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taipei.
As part of its long-term observations of the Kuroshio since 2012, the team operated a Seaglider to complete 434 dives down to a depth of 1,000m from December 2016 to March 2017 and obtained high-resolution hydrographic data, Jan said.
They found that two dissimilar water masses within the 500m to 800m part of the Kuroshio do not blend quickly; rather, their contact gives rise to interleaving layers with varying salinity levels and temperatures, revolutionizing their concepts about the Kuroshio, the hydrological layers of which are not as smooth as they had presumed, he said. [FULL STORY]
