Kuroshio

CONT: Le courant de Kuroshio ou courant de Kuro-Shivo est le second plus grand courant marin au monde (après le Gulf Stream). Il débute dans l'ouest de l'océan Pacifique au large de la côte orientale de Taiwan et se dirige vers les eaux au nord-est du Japon où il fusionne avec la dérive orientale du courant du Nord Pacifique. Il a un rôle analogue à celui du Gulf Stream dans l'océan Atlantique, transportant des eaux chaudes tropicales vers le Nord et les régions polaires.
OBS: Ce courant est aussi appelé courant du Japon ou courant Noir, la traduction littérale du japonais kuroshio, allusion à la couleur bleu sombre de ses eaux.

OBS: A deep, narrow, and swift current, it continues from the Philippines Current in a northeastward direction from Taiwan along the continental rise of the East China Sea, through Tokara Strait, and close to the eastern coast of Japan. At 35°N it separates from the coast and flows eastward into the Pacific as a free jet known as the Kuroshio Extension. It forms a marked temperature and salinity front with the Oyashio, which meets the Kuroshio Extension from the north and then flows parallel to it. Like all other western boundary currents, the Kuroshio develops instabilities and sheds eddies. Its unique characteristic is that south of Honshu it switches between three quasi-stable paths across the Izu Ridge at irregular intervals of 18 months to several years. Volume transport in the Kuroshio increases downstream and reaches 57 Sv ... in the Kuroshio Extension, increasing seasonally by 15% during summer. The current's path in the extension is characterized by large meridional excursions in the so-called First and Second Crest at 145° and 152°E. On approaching the Shatsky Rise at 157°E, the Kuroshio Extension divides into several paths that tend to recombine before the Emperor Seamounts near 170°E cause the current to split again and disintegrate. The flow then continues as the North Pacific Current.
OBS: Black Stream: It's also sometimes known as the Black Stream-the English translation of kuroshio, and an allusion to the deep blue of its water-and also as the Japan Current.