The Yellow Sea Warm Current （YSWC） penetrates northward along the Yellow Sea Trough, and brings warm and saline water towards the Bohai Sea. The YSWC becomes much less intrusive in summer and is limited mostly in the southern trough, contrasting with a deep winter penetration well into the trough. The seasonal variability of the YSWC has prompted a debate regarding which controls the YSWC and its seasonal variability. In this article, the annual mean and seasonal variability of the YSWC was examined by using a 3-D ocean model together with several experiments. The results show that in the annual mean the YSWC is a compensating current firstly for the southward Korea Coastal Current （KCC）, which is mainly caused by the Kuroshio Current （KC）. The local wind-stress forcing plays an important but secondary role. However, the local monsoonal forcing plays a prominent role in modulating the seasonal variability. A deep northwestward intrusion of the YSWC in winter, for instance, is mainly due to a robustly developed China Coastal Current （CCC） which draws water along the Yellow Sea trough to feed a southward flow all the way from the Bohai Sea to the Taiwan Strait.
The Taiwan Warm Current （TWC） and the Tsushima Warm Current （TSWC） flow northward over the shelf in the East China Sea （ECS）, which some previous studies regard as a Taiwan-Tsushima Warm Current （TTWC） System. But the roles of the TWC and TSWC in the formation of the TTWC system have not been clarified. This article will show that the TSWC is more important in the TTWC system. Using a three-dimensional baroclinic model, we conducted several numerical experiments to reveal the dynamic relationship between the TWC and TSWC. The results show that the TWC has little effect on the TSWC, while the TSWC has a significant effect on the TWC. A source-sink driven mechanism along isobaths may be used to explain this phenomenon The perennial northward flow through the Tsushima Strait pumps the response over the northern shelf in the ECS that gives rise to the TWC. Although the TSWC is located at the ＂downstream＂ region, it could induce about 0.5 Sv to TWC in annual mean values.
