Yellow Sea

Coordinates: 35°0′N 123°0′E / 35°N 123°E / 35; 123

The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean peninsula. Its name comes from the sand particles from Gobi Desert sand storms that turn the surface of the water golden yellow during sunset and can be seen while sailing or flying west. In South Korea it is only known by its historic name: the West Sea.

The innermost bay of the Yellow Sea is called the Bohai Sea (previously Pechihli Bay or Chihli Bay). Into it flow both the Yellow River (through Shandong province and its capital Jinan) and Hai He (through Beijing and Tianjin).

Korea Bay, between the Chinese Liaoning province and northwestern North Korea is also part of the Yellow Sea. Korea Bay is separated from the Bohai Sea by the Liaodong Peninsula, with Dalian at its southernmost point.

Environment

The intertidal mudflats of the Yellow Sea are of great importance for migratory waders or shorebirds. Surveys show that the area is the single most important site for migratory birds on northward migration in the entire East Asian - Australasian Flyway, with a minimum number of two million birds passing through at the time, with about half that number using it on southward migration.^[1][2] The yellow sea is about 106 meters deep at its deepest.

See also

• Geography of China
• Geography of North Korea
• Geography of South Korea

Sand storm over Yellow Sea http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=8477

References