Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass

The Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass (YSCWM) is a subsurface body of cold water below the summer thermocline in the central Yellow Sea, a remnant of the previous winter’s cooling. Strong solar heating and weak winds build a sharp thermocline near 25 m, trapping bottom water near 5 to 11 degrees C, with the core often below 10 degrees C, through late spring to autumn while the surface warms past 25 degrees C. Quasi-stationary thermal fronts ring its edge and a subsurface chlorophyll maximum sits at the thermocline. The cold mass governs summer stratification, nutrient supply, and fish distribution in the semi-enclosed shelf sea.