A Three-Layer Alternating Spinning Circulation in the South China Sea

Understanding of the three-dimensional circulation in the South China Sea (SCS) is crucial for determining the transports of water masses, energy, and biogeochemical substances in the regional and adjacent larger oceans. The circulation’s kinematic and dynamic natures, however, are largely unclear. Results from a three-dimensional numerical ocean circulation model and geostrophic currents, derived from hydrographic data, reveal the existence of a unique, three-layer, cyclonic–anticyclonic–cyclonic (CAC) circulation in the upper (<750 m), middle (750–1500 m), and deep (>1500 m) layers in the SCS with differing seasonality. An inflow–outflow–inflow structure in Luzon Strait largely induces the CAC circulation, which leads to vortex stretching in the SCS basin because of a lateral planetary vorticity flux in each of the respective layers. The formation of joint effects of baroclinicity and relief (JEBAR) is an intrinsic dynamic response to the CAC circulation. The JEBAR arises from the CAC flow–topography interaction in the SCS.