Seasonal Variability of Thermohaline Front in the Central South China Sea

An upper layer thermohaline front across the South China Sea (SCS) basin from the South Vietnamese coast (around 15°N) to Luzon Island (around 19°N) has been identified using the Navy's open domain Generalized Digital Environmental Model (GDEM) monthly mean temperature and salinity data on a 0.5° × 0.5° grid. This front does not occur at the surface in summer. The strength of this front is around 1°C/100 km at the surface and 1.4°C/100 km at the subsurface (50 m deep). A cross-basin current, inverted using the P-vector method, is associating with the front. Meandering and eddies have been identified along this current. Seasonal and vertical variabilities of the thermohaline structure across this front are reported in this paper. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.