Numerical study of mean flow patterns in the South China Sea and the Luzon Strait |
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Authors: | Ching-Sheng Chern Sen Jan Joe Wang |
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Institution: | (1) Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, P.O. Box 23-13, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; |
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Abstract: | Previous investigations have suggested that wind stress curl, the balance of influx- and outflux-induced upwelling, as well
as a positive vorticity source fed from the left flank of the Kuroshio are all possible mechanisms that contribute to a persistent
cyclonic gyre in the South China Sea (SCS). Studies have also suggested that the loop current that forms from the Kuroshio
intrusion in the Luzon Strait, similar to the Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), has rarely been observed in the northern
SCS. In this research, an idealized numerical model driven by annual mean wind stress was adopted to investigate the relative
importance of dynamic processes that control the mean flow pattern of Kuroshio in the Luzon Strait and regulate circulation
in the SCS. An analysis of results drawn from numerical experiments suggests that the three mechanisms are of approximately
equal importance in the formation of the persistent cyclonic gyre in the northern SCS. Unlike the Gulf Stream which enters
the Gulf of Mexico through the Yucatan Channel, the two topographic ridges that align nearly meridionally in the Luzon Strait
keep the Kuroshio flowing roughly northward without distinct intrusion into the SCS. Unsurprisingly, an anticyclonic loop
current similar to the Gulf Stream pathway in the GOM was barely observed in the northern SCS. |
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