The concentration of suspended load can be determined by its linear relationship to turbidity. Our results present the basic distribution of suspended load in North Yellow Sea. In summer, the suspended load concentration is high along the coast and low in the center of the sea. There are four regions of high concentration in the surface layer： Penglai and Chengshantou along the north of the Shandong Peninsula, and the coastal areas of Ltishun and Changshan Islands. There is a 2 mg/L contour at 124°E that separates the North Yellow Sea from regions of lower concentrations in the open sea to the west. And there is a 2 mg/L contour at 124°E that separates the North Yellow Sea from regions of lower concentrations in the open sea to the west. The distribution features in the 10 m and bottom layer are similar to the surface layer, however, the suspended load concentration declines in the 10 m layer while it increases in the bottom layer. And in the bottom layer there is a low suspended load concentration water mass at the region south of 38°N and east of 123°E extending to the southeast. In general, the lowest suspended load concentration in a vertical profile is at a depth of 10 to 20 m, the highest suspended load concentration is in the bottom near Chengshantou area. In winter, the distribution of suspended load is similar to summer, but the average concentrations are three times higher. There are two tongue-shaped high suspended load concentration belt, one occurring from surface to seafloor, extends to the north near Chengshantou and the other invades north to south along the east margin of Dalian Bay. They separate the low suspended load concentration water masses in the center of North Yellow Sea into east and west parts, Vertical distribution is quite uniform in the whole North Yellow Sea because of the cooling effect and strong northeast winds. The distribution of suspended load has a very close relationship to the current circulation and wind-induced waves in the North Yellow Sea. Because of this, we ha
In this paper, we characterize the North Yellow Sea （NYS） water masses in summer by analyzing temperature and salinity data surveyed in 2006. The Liaonan Coastal Water is characterized by low salinity westward and southward flow paths. The westward path flows parallel to land, turns to the south, then to the southeast adjacent to the mouth of the Lushun River, where it mixes with other coastal water directly to the southwest. It becomes the main source of low salinity water in the deep water area west of 123°E. The high-salinity Lubei Coastal Water is the remnant of the winter Lubei Coastal Water, which is located mostly in a small area between Yantai and Weihai, and does not originate in the Bohai Sea Coastal Water. The two NYS zones demarcated at 123°E have distinctly different temperature and salinity characteristics. There are two high-salinity centers east of 123°E, whereas there is low-salinity water to the west whose temperature and salinity structures are complex, composed of the coastal water south of Chengshantou, the Liaonan Coastal Water and the Bohai Sea Water.
