Observational characteristics and dynamic mechanism of low-salinity water lens for the offshore detachment of the Changjiang River diluted water in August 2006

The Changjiang River diluted water (CDW) spreads into the East China Sea (ECS) primarily in a plume pattern, although in some years, low-salinity water lenses (LSWLs) detach from the main body of the CDW. In-situ observations indicate that in August 2006, a LSWL detached from the main body of the CDW near the river mouth. In this paper, the effects of winds, tides, baroclinity and upwelling on LSWLs are explored with a three-dimensional model. The results show that: (1) winds play a crucial role in these detachment events because wind-induced northerly Eulerian residual currents impose an uneven force on the CDW and cut it off, thus forming a LSWL; (2) upwelling carries high-salinity water from the lower layer to the upper layer, truncating the low-salinity water tongue vertically, which is conducive to the detachment and maintenance of LSWLs; and (3) upwelling during the evolution of a LSWL is caused by the combined effects of winds and tides. The influences of wind-induced upwelling are mainly near the shore, whereas the upwelling along the 30 m isobath is predominantly affected by tides, with the effect increasing from neap tide to spring tide.