Interannual variability of South China Sea winter circulation: response to Luzon Strait transport and El Niño wind

The El Niño wind and Luzon Strait transport are important factors modulating the interannual variability of the southern and northern South China Sea (SCS) winter circulation, respectively. The joint effect of El Niño wind and westward Luzon Strait transport drives a dipolar gyre with an anticycloni...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Climate dynamics 2020, Vol.54 (1-2), p.1145-1159
Main Authors: Wang, Qiang, Zeng, Lili, Shu, Yeqiang, Liu, Qinyan, Zu, Tingting, Li, Jian, Chen, Ju, He, Yunkai, Wang, Dongxiao
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anticyclonic circulation
Boundary currents
Circulation anomalies
Climatology
Cyclonic circulation
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
El Nino
El Nino effects
El Nino phenomena
Extreme values
Geophysics/Geodesy
Interannual variability
Intrusion
Oceanography
Plankton
Remote sensing
Transport
Variability
Wind
Wind effects
Winter
Winter circulation
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Summary:The El Niño wind and Luzon Strait transport are important factors modulating the interannual variability of the southern and northern South China Sea (SCS) winter circulation, respectively. The joint effect of El Niño wind and westward Luzon Strait transport drives a dipolar gyre with an anticyclonic (cyclonic) circulation anomaly in the southern (northern) SCS, which enhances the cross-basin current that connects the SCS western boundary current with the eastern boundary of the SCS around the Mindoro Strait, and then effectively modulates the interannual variability of Mindoro Strait transport. An extreme El Niño and large Luzon Strait intrusion occurred in winter 2015/16, and mooring observations and remote sensing data confirmed the presence of an intense dipolar gyre. This resulted in an extreme eastward cross-basin current and outward SCS Mindoro Strait transport anomaly in 2015/16.
ISSN:0930-7575
1432-0894
DOI:10.1007/s00382-019-05050-2