Kuroshio Current

Currents of Kuroshio and Oyashio.

Ocean currents surrounding the archipelago of Japan: 1. Kuroshio 2. Extension of Kuroshio 3. Contra-Corriente de Kuroshio 4. Current Tsushima 5. Current Tsugaru 6. Current Sōya 7. Oyashio 8. The Liman Current.

Kuroshio's current (黒潮, Kuroshio current^? "Black Current"; also known as Kuro-Shivo, known in ancient times as the turntrip current) is a strong western boundary current in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. It begins off the eastern coast of Taiwan and flows northeast past Japan, where it merges with the eastern drift of the North Pacific Current. It is analogous to the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean, which carries warm tropical water northward toward the polar region. It is also sometimes known as the Black River — the translation of Kuro Shio, and an allusion to the dark blue of its water — and also as the "stream of the Japan" (日本海流 Nihon Kairyū). This characteristic dark blue color is due to the fact that, due to its relatively high temperature, it causes poverty in nutrients and hence the scarcity of marine life, which gives it its name Kuroshio (black current or dark water).

It was discovered in 1565 by the Gipuzkoan Andrés de Urdaneta, colonial administrator, supervisor of nautical expeditions, corregidor, Augustinian monk and loyal navigator at the service of H.M. King Felipe II, when on board the Nao San Pedro, was the first to open the "tornaviaje" between Cebu (Philippines) and the coasts of California. The secret of the tornaviaje gave Spain absolute hegemony over the Pacific Ocean for centuries, a hegemony that was embodied in the so-called "Manila Galleon".

It is not a very wide current, with fast and warm waters. The Kuro Shio's path south of Japan is recorded each day. Its counterparts are the North Pacific Current to the north, the California Current to the east, and the North Equatorial Current to the south. The warm waters of the Kuroshio Current support Japan's coral reefs, the northernmost coral reefs in the world. The branch of the Sea of Japan is called the Tsushima Current 対馬海流 (Tsushima Kairyū). The Japan Current is also responsible for the mild weather experienced around the southern coast of Alaska and in British Columbia.

It begins its journey at the place where the current north of the equator approaches the Philippines. It passes between the Ryukyu and Kyushu archipelago forming the so-called meander of the China Sea and continues through the Tokara Strait turning sharply in a northerly direction and there, when the speed of the current is at its peak, it forks into a distant current. off the coast of Japan and another more sinuous and complex that remains more or less close to the coast until both arms meet at approximately 141° east longitude and 35° north latitude. Then the Kuroshio turns eastward away from the Japanese coast and becomes the so-called Kuroshio Extension which becomes very strong and shows great instability until it reaches the mountain range. submarine volcanics called Emperor Seamounts where it disperses into multiple subcurrents, some of which will become part of the North Pacific current.

Western boundary currents transport organisms long distances rapidly, and a variety of commercially important marine organisms migrate in these currents in the course of completing their life histories. Subtropical gyres occupy a large fraction of the world's ocean and are more productive than they originally were. In addition, its carbon dioxide fixation is an important factor in the overall carbon dioxide budget in the atmosphere.

Satellite images of the Kuroshio Current illustrate how the path of the current meanders and forms isolated rings or eddies of about 100–300 km. Eddies retain their unique shape for several months and have their own biological characteristics depending on where they form. If eddies form between the current and the shoreline of Japan, they can affect the continental shelf and their high kinetic energy has the effect of driving large masses of water off the continental shelf on one side of the ring, while adding water on the other side. The size and strength of eddies decline with distance from the main ocean currents.