Presenter: Wan-Hsin Yang
Date: 2015/10/01
Abstract
The South China Sea (SCS) is a semi-enclose sea. The Luzon Strait (LS) is the main passage for water exchange between the Pacific and the South China Sea. The Luzon Strait transport (LST) from the Pacific into the South China Sea is examined using results from a high-resolution ocean general circulation model. The LST from the model has a mean value of 2.4 Sv and reaches its seasonal maximum in winter and seasonal minimum in summer. On an inter-annual time scale, LST tends to be higher during El Niño years and lower during La Niña years, with its maximum (minimum) leading the mature phase of El Niño (La Niña) by 1 month. On the other side, the inter-annual variation of the upper-layer heat content has a strong signature of ENSO, cooling in the development of El Niño and warming in the development of La Niña. An oceanic connection is revealed, in which LST seems to be a key process conveying the impact of the Pacific ENSO into the SCS.
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