Extreme Sea Level Rise off the Northwest Coast of the South China Sea in 2012

• Published in: Journal of Ocean University of China Vol. 17; no. 5; pp. 991 - 999
• Main Authors: Liu, Lin, Li, Juan, Tan, Wei, Wu, Yue, Liu, Yanliang, Wang, Huiwu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Science Press 01.10.2018; Springer Nature B.V; Laboratory for Regional Oceanography and Numerical Modeling,Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology,Qingdao 266061,China%Laboratory of Marine Science and Numerical Modeling,First Institute of Oceanography,State Oceanic Administration,Qingdao 266061,China%Center for Ocean and Climate Research,First Institute of Oceanography,State Oceanic Administration,Qingdao 266061,China; Center for Ocean and Climate Research,First Institute of Oceanography,State Oceanic Administration,Qingdao 266061,China
• Subjects: Coastal environments; Cyclones; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; El Nino; El Nino phenomena; Elevation; Fluctuations; Freshwater; Heat; Heat flux; Heat transfer; Inland water environment; Interactions; La Nina; Meteorology; Oceanography; Sea level; Sea level rise; Sea surface; Southern Oscillation; Temperature (air-sea); Tide gauges; Tides; South China Sea; South China Sea; interannual variability; sea level rise; extreme
• DOI: 10.1007/s11802-018-3681-9
• ISSN: 1672-5182

Tide gauge data are used to investigate sea level variability off the northwest coast of the South China Sea (SCS) in 2012, and a significant sea level elevation with a magnitude approaching 79 mm is observed. Analysis suggests that an abnormal sea surface heat flux and freshwater flux may have contributed to this abnormal rise in sea level, together with the remote influence of an ENSO event. Further investigation shows that the event was dominated by the positive freshwater flux, where large volumes of water entered the ocean, and a maximum is centered to the south of Guangdong province, China. Simultaneously, a positive anomalous heat flux occurred in the northwestern part of the SCS, which is considered to have made a positive contribution to the high local sea level elevation. In addition to the heat flux, the ENSO event also had a significant effect on the event, where the La Niña-induced northwest Pacific cyclone contributed to sea level rise over the northwestern SCS through dynamic and thermodynamic interactions.