Circulation and Eddies

Circulation and eddies in SCS are complicated and have its own special characteristics. The general circulation over the entire basin shows a dipole structure. 

When large-scale circulation is concerned, the northeast monsoon will drive a basin-scale cyclonic circulation with each cyclonic g rre in the northern and southern SCS (NSCS, SSCS), respectively, and the circulation displays a double-g3Te structure. In summer, the circulation in the NSCS will still maintain a weak cyclonic gyre. However, due to the southwest monsoon, the circulation in the SSCS displays an anticyclonic g3Te. 

In summer (Fig. 5.3b), from May to September, under the influence of the southwest monsoon, current flow is reversed in the SCS and water enters from the Java Sea via the Karimata Straits to sweep up into the central area and exits through the Taiwan Straits. In so doing, a clockwise gyre is established off the coast of Borneo, above the Spratlys, and a smaller anticlockwise one off the coast of Vietnam. 

The southern coasts of the SCS, i.e., Borneo and much of the western Philippines, are affected by a prevailing northeasterly flow while the coasts of the northern rim, i.e., the southern coast of China and most of Vietnam, are 

There is a cyclonic eddy located off northwestern Luzon, and this eddy exists all the year round, while the cold eddy off the southeast coast of Vietnam is thus named the Vietnam cold eddy. Cross correlation analysis shows that the local air-sea feedback mechanism is the major cause of the formation of the 

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Gudiksen, P. H., A. W. Fairhall, and R. J. Reed (196S). Roles of mean meridional circulation and eddy diffusion in the transport of trace substances in the lower stratosphere. J. Ceophys. Res. 73, 4461-4473. 

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