Water transports through the four main straits around the South China Sea

A quasi-global high-resolution HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) is used to investigate seasonal variations of water transports through the four main straits in the South China Sea. The results show that the annual transports through the four straits Luzon Strait, Taiwan Strait, Sunda Shelf and Mindoro Strait are −4.5, 2.3, 0.5 and 1.7 Sv (1 Sv=106 m3s−1), respectively. The Mindoro Strait has an important outflow that accounts for over one third of the total inflow through the Luzon Strait. Furthermore, it indicates that there are strong seasonal variations of water transport in the four straits. The water transport through the Luzon Strait (Taiwan Strait, Sunda Shelf, Mindoro Strait) has a maximum value of −7.6 Sv in December (3.1 Sv in July, 2.1S v in January, 4.5Sv in November), a minimum value of −2.1 Sv in June (1.5 Sv in October, −1.0 Sv in June, −0.2 Sv in May), respectively.