Changes in Temperature, Sea Level, and Geostrophic Currents in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean and Southwestern Bering Sea under the Influence of the Nodal Tide.

An analysis of satellite data and Argo float data has shown the variability in the sea surface temperature (SST), sea level, and geostrophic currents in the northwestern Pacific Ocean and southwestern Bering Sea caused by the nodal tide with a period of 18.6 years. It is found that an increase in the nodal tide amplitude leads to a sea-level decrease and the formation of cyclonic water circulation in the Blizhniy Strait area. In the Bering Sea, there is no water flow directed northward from the Blizhniy Strait to the mainland coast. In the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean, the westward flow of waters of the Alaskan Stream weakens and a cyclonic eddy is formed. The sea-level decrease is caused by an increase in salinity/density of water in the 50–400 m layer due to increased tidal mixing in the Aleutian Straits and the Blizhniy Strait. Tidal amplification (attenuation) was accompanied by a decrease (increase) in SST in the northwestern Pacific Ocean and southwestern Bering Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]