Fig.14. Same as in Fig.7 except for Cruise III.
The relation of the current divergence values to the values of this linear trend at the times of the repeated runs are also shown in Fig.8(b) with black dots. The correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.72) is considerably improved over the case when the raw sea level difference values are used (R2 = 0.14). Further investigations are needed to clarify why no tidal variation appears in the temporal variation of the Kii Bifurcation Current, and why the tidal variation appears sporadically in the sea level difference.
It should be noted that the regression lines in Fig.8(b) run differently than they do in Fig.8(a). It would be reasonable to consider that the variation of the hourly sea level difference between Kushimoto and Uragami may represent some variation of the oceanic condition in the vicinity of Cape Shionomisaki, but it would appear differently case by case, presumably reflecting the different oceanic characteristics at the coastal region to the north of the Kuroshio current zone.
