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Effects of wave-current interaction on the waves, cold-water mass and transport of diluted water in the Beibu Gulf

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Abstract

Wave-current interaction and its effects on the hydrodynamic environment in the Beibu Gulf (BG) have been investigated via employing the Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere–Wave–Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling system. The model could simulate reasonable hydrodynamics in the BG when validated by various observations. Vigorous tidal currents refract the waves efficiently and make the seas off the west coast of Hainan Island be the hot spot where currents modulate the significant wave height dramatically. During summer, wave-enhanced bottom stress could weaken the near-shore component of the gulf-scale cyclonic-circulation in the BG remarkably, inducing two major corresponding adjustments: Model results reveal that the deep-layer cold water from the southern BG makes critical contribution to maintaining the cold-water mass in the northern BG Basin. However, the weakened background circulation leads to less cold water transported from the southern gulf to the northern gulf, which finally triggers a 0.2°C warming in the cold-water mass area; In the top areas of the BG, the suppressed background circulation reduces the transport of the diluted water to the central gulf. Therefore, more freshwater could be trapped locally, which then triggers lower sea surface salinity (SSS) in the near-field and higher SSS in the far-field.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate the editors and anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions which lead to substantial improvement of the manuscript. Peng Bai thanks John C. Warner and Zengrui Rong sincerely for their generous and great assistance in building up the COAWST model.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong Province Key Laboratory for Coastal Ocean Variation and Disaster Prediction, College of Ocean and Meteorology, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China

    Jingling Yang, Lingling Xie & Peng Bai

  2. Marine Resources Big Data Center of South China Sea, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhanjiang), Zhanjiang, 524025, China

    Jingling Yang, Lingling Xie & Peng Bai

  3. Beihai Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, South China Sea Bureau of Ministry of Natural Resources, Beihai, 536000, China

    Shaocai Jiang

  4. East China Sea Bureau of Ministry of Natural Resources, Shanghai, 200137, China

    Junshan Wu

  5. Institute of Marine Science, College of Science, Shantou University, Shantou, 515063, China

    Shuwen Zhang

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  1. Jingling Yang
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  2. Shaocai Jiang
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  3. Junshan Wu
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  4. Lingling Xie
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Correspondence to Peng Bai.

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Foundation item: The Program for Scientific Research Start-up Funds of Guangdong Ocean University under contract No. 101302/R18001; the Fund of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhanjiang) under contract No. ZJW- 2019-08; the National Key Research and Development Program of China under contract No. 2016YFC1401403; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41476009 and 41776034.

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Yang, J., Jiang, S., Wu, J. et al. Effects of wave-current interaction on the waves, cold-water mass and transport of diluted water in the Beibu Gulf. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 39, 25–40 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-019-1529-9

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