How Much Heat and Salt Are Transported Into the South China Sea by Mesoscale Eddies?

Abstract

Abstract Eddy‐induced transport through the Luzon Strait critically affects the physical and biological properties of the South China Sea (SCS). The eddy‐induced volume, heat and salt transport are comprehensively evaluated based on the South China Sea Physical Oceanic Dataset (SCSPOD) observations. To avoid the bias involved in extreme eddy events, 76 shedding anticyclonic eddies, 46 shedding cyclonic eddies, 29 locally formed anticyclonic eddies and 40 locally formed cyclonic eddies from 1993 to 2018 are taken into account and merged into composites. The total annual intrusions of volume, heat and salt contributed by all four types of eddies are 0.77 Sv, 8.78 × 10−4 PW and 7.88 × 104 kg·s−1, respectively. The statistical analysis shows that annual eddy‐induced intrusion accounts for 11.3%–38.9% of the upper‐layer Luzon Strait transport, which highlights the non‐negligible role of eddies in water exchange through the Luzon Strait.

Keywords

• South China Sea
• saline Kuroshio intrusion
• eddy‐induced transport
• shedding mesoscale eddy