Seasonal variation and formation mechanism of the South China Sea warm water

The South China Sea warm water (SCSWW) is identified as the warm water body withtemperature no less than 28℃ . There are three stages in the seasonal variation of the SCSWW. The SCSWW expands rapidly and deepens quickly in the developing stage. The warm water thickness decreases near the coast of Vietnam and increases near Palawan Island in the steady stage. The SCSWW flinches southward while its thickness off Palawan Island remains no less than 50 m in the flinching stage. The maximum thickness of the SCSWW is always located near the southeastern SCS. The seasonal variation of the SCSWW has a close relationship with seasonal variation of the thermocline. According to the analysis of the numerical experiment results from the Princeton Ocean Model (POM), the mechanism of the seasonal variation of the SCSWW can be interpreted as: (1) in the developing stage, the rapidly expanding and thickening feature of the SCSWW is mainly due to buoyancy flux effect (67% contribution). The weak wind and anticyclonic wi