DEVELOPMENT OF MESOSCALE JETS AND RENEWAL OF INTERMEDIATE WATER IN THE OYASHIO-KUROSHIO FRONTAL ZONE

The paper gives the results of studies of the mechanism for the renewa l of intermediate water of low salinity, based on satellite and hydrol ogical observations of the formation of mesoscale jets in the Oyashio- Kuroshio frontal zone. It is conjectured that the physical mechanism c ontrolling the convection in the front is thermobaric convection, asso ciated with changes in the potential energy at the time of adiabatic e xchange and the mixing of water masses with different temperatures and salinities.