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Westward intensification in marginal seas

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Abstract

An idealized model was used to examine why the strong western boundary current (WBC) is observed in the South China Sea (SCS) but not in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and Japan/East Sea (JES). Results suggested that the stronger WBC in the SCS is mainly attributed to the direct contribution of the inflow and the strong monsoon. Although the Gulf Stream transports a large amount of water into the GOM, the passage in the southeast corner guides the inflow out of the gulf and inhibits the inflow from intensifying the WBC. Meanwhile, the wind stress in the GOM is weakest among the three marginal seas. The meridional ocean ridge and the particular layout of the continental slope of JES prevent the whole basin from participating in the westward intensification. Besides, the throughflow has adverse effects on the formulation of WBC in JES. The variation of Coriolis parameter with latitude leads to the westward intensification in marginal seas. However, a strong WBC cannot be observed in the absence of reasonable collocation of wind, inflow, and topography.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the “Strategic Priority Research Program” of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant XDA11010103), National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 41106027, 41206008 and 91228202), the Guangzhou City Project for the Pearl River New Star in Science and Technology (grant 2013J2200087) and the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant SQ201302).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 164 West **ngang Road, Guangzhou, 510301, China

    Gengxin Chen & Huijie Xue

  2. School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA

    Huijie Xue

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  1. Gengxin Chen
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  2. Huijie Xue
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Correspondence to Gengxin Chen.

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Responsible editor: Richard Signell

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Chen, G., Xue, H. Westward intensification in marginal seas. Ocean Dynamics 64, 337–345 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-014-0691-z

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