Chlorophyll a maximum distribution and variabilityesin the northern East China Sea

In this paper,the horizontal distributions and seasonal variabilities of the chlorophyll a maximum in the northern East China Sea are studied using the observation data during the SinoJapan Joint investigation and study on the Kuroshio (1986-1992).It is shown from the study that the hydrodynamic conditions in the northern East China Sea,such as frontal eddy,oceanic front and upwelling are important environmental factorsto result in the chlorophyll a maximum distributions and variations.It is especially pointed out that the distance from the high chlorophyll a value area to the frontal surface shows a negative correlsation with the current speed gradient in the frontal area,and the location of the high chlorophyll a value area can be estimated by using the correlation.