This study aims to analyze statistical behavior of the continental shelf wave motions, including continental shelf waves (CSWs) and arrested topographic waves (ATWs), in the northern South China Sea. The baseline consists of tide-gauge data from stations Kanmen, Xiamen, Shanwei, and Zhapo as well as along-track sea level anomaly (SLA) data derived from multiple satellite altimeters from 1993 to 2020. The subtidal signals propagating along the coast with periods shorter than 40 d and phase speeds of about 10 m s−1 are interpreted as CSWs. The cross-shelf structure of along-track SLAs indicates that Mode 1 of CSWs is the predominant component trapped in the area shallower than about 200 m. The amplitudes of CSWs reach a maximum of 0.6 m during July–September and a minimum of 0.2 m during April–June. The inter-seasonal and seasonal signals represent ATWs. The amplitudes of ATWs reach 0.10 m during October–December, twice that during July–September. These observations can be well interpreted in the framework of linear wave theory. The cross-shelf structures of CSWs and ATWs derived from along-track SLAs illustrate that the methods are suitable for observing dynamic behavior of the CSWs.
