The role of atmospheric circulation in spatial and temporal variations in the structure of currents in the western South China Sea

Abstract

Based on numerical simulations, we calculate the integral water circulation of the South China Sea on the eastern Vietnam shelf in the Vietnam coastal current area. The main objective of simulations was to study the hydrodynamic structures of this current in the winter–summer interseasonal period. The calculations were performed for the period from April to June 1999, which had the necessary primary field data. Two types of atmospheric processes were considered: the first is characterized by a small pressure gradient over the South China Sea and the second includes tropical cyclones in the southern part of the sea. The simulation results showed that there are three hydrodynamic gyres in the study area during the given time period: two anticyclonic gyres and a cyclonic gyre that separates them, which together form a complex pattern of the Vietnam current. These gyres persist for the given types of atmospheric processes and are quasi-stationary structures. The Vietnam current carries coastal water masses from south to north within the anticyclonic gyres in summer and from north to south within the cyclonic gyres in winter.