We investigated the vertical distribution of current velocity data of the entire water column at a site on the continental shelf of the northern South China Sea(SCS) from August 4 to September 6,2007,and found that the characteristics of barotropic and baroclinic tides are mainly diurnal.During the observation period,we also estimated the mixing before and after the passage of Typhoon Pabuk.We found that the internal-wave-scale dissipation rate,the turbulent dissipation rate,and the mixing rate in every water layer increased by about an order of magnitude after the typhoon passage.We analyzed a case of abrupt strong current and calculated the mixing rate before,during,and after the typhoon event.The results show that the internal-wave-scale dissipation rate and the mixing rate in every water layer increased by about two orders of magnitude during the event,while the turbulent dissipation rate increased by about an order of magnitude.Passage of the abrupt strong current could also have increased the mixing rate of affected seawater by more than an order of magnitude.However,the passage of the typhoon differed in that there was an increase in mixing only in the lower layer where the abrupt strong current was particularly strong.The variation of the mixing rate may help us to understand the effects of typhoons and abrupt strong currents on the mixing of seawater.
A continuously stratified nonlinear model is set up to study the impact of topographical character on the generation of internal solitary waves over a sill by tidal flow.One of the reasons why almost all of the generated internal solitary waves propagate westward in the northern South China Sea is explained.The model simulations describe the generation and propagation of internal waves well.When the strength of imposed barotropic tides and the water stratification stay unchanged,the steepness of the sill slope can control both(a) whether or not the waves induced over a sill by tidal flow are linear internal waves or nonlinear internal solitary waves,and(b) the amplitude of the internal solitary waves generated.If the steepness of the sill is asymmetric,the nonlinear internal solitary waves may be induced on the steeper side of the sill.These conclusions are supported by a numerical experiment with a monthly-mean stratification and an actual seafloor topography from the Luzon Strait.
