Results of oceanological monitoring in the northwestern part of the Sea of Japan 2018

In this work, based on the data on the sea surface temperature, deep-sea oceanographic observations, we studied the thermohaline and dynamic conditions of the Southern Primorye and open waters of the northwestern part of the Sea of Japan in the spring and summer of 2018. The features of the oceanological structure were revealed, and state and water conditions were estimated. Anticyclonic eddies were observed in the open waters of the northwestern part of the Sea of Japan. In the water circulation, its main components are shown, the roles of the Primorsky and West Sakhalin currents are highlighted. The concept of the structure and nature of the Primorsky Current has been expanded. It is shown that in the vertical structure of the waters of Peter the Great Bay (April) and the western part of the Tatar Strait (June) there existed the near-bottom and subsurface cold layers. In the waters of southern Primorye in May, these layers were not observed. Based on the meridional displacement of the vortex structures and the criterion for assessing the thermal regime of the waters of the northwestern part of the Sea of Japan — the average temperature of the subsurface layer 50–200 m — it was established that in the year under study the thermal regime of the sea was classified as warm.