Contributors to tidal duration asymmetry with varied coastline configurations on western shelf of Yellow Sea

Coastal management in China is confronted with an urgent choice between natural restoration and maintenance of existing seawalls and reclaimed land for economic development.A key criterion for making this decision is the resilience to coastal flooding,which depends on the ability to predict tidal level.Tidal duration asymmetry(TDA)is a key parameter in determination of the arrival and duration of flood tides.This study selected the western inner shelf of the Yellow Sea(WYS)as the study area and investigated the responses of TDA to different shoreline configurations and relative sea level rise.The responses of TDA to shoreline reconstruction yielded spatial variability locally and remotely.In the nearshore area,the responses of TDA to the complex ocean environment mainly originated from the combined functions of reflection,bottom friction,and advection,which controlled the energy transfer from M2 or S2 constituents to their overtides or compound tides.The sensitivity of TDA to coastline typologies was not limited to coastal waters but could stretch over the entire inner shelf.The vulnerability of tidal responses was due to the displacement of the M2 amphidrome of the Kelvin wave on the WYS,which in turn changed tidal energy fluxes over the regime.The relative sea level rise could intensify the feedback of TDA to seawalls and land reclamation.

A global analysis of multi-mode sea surface temperature pattern

The variability of the air-sea system in the low-frequency time domain can be decomposed into several systematic climate modes, namely, the decadal variability （DV） mode, the El Nino Southem Oscillation （ENSO） mode, the annual cycle （AC） mode, the semiannual cycle （ SC ） mode and the intraseasonal variability （ ISV ） mode. The combination of these primary modes in the air - sea system orchestrates a complex climate system. The multi-mode low-frequency variability in SST is investigated based on 22 a SST records from 1982 through 2003. The variation of SST in the past two decades undergoes a different combination of these dominant climate modes over different regions, which leads to an interesting new classification of the global ocean based on the relative importance of these modes. The new classification can provide ideal locations for better monitoring of these low-frequency modes in the scientific proof sense. Moreover, two no-annual variation and 14 no-semiannual variation oceanic points, termed annual and semiannual amphidromes, have been well defined in the AC and SC phase maps. The formation of these nodal points is attributed to the couplings of climate modes in EOF analysis results.

Study on the Tidal Wave System and Formation Mechanism of M_2 Tide in the Taiwan Strait

To study the Taiwan Strait （TS）, an unusual sea area, the numerical model in marginal seas of China is used to simulate and analyze the tidal wave motion in the strait. The numerical modeling experiments reproduce the amphidromic system of the M2 tide in the south end of the Taiwan strait, and consequently confirm the existence of the degenerate amphidromic system. On this basis, further discussion is conducted on the M2 system and its formation mechanism. It can be concluded that the tidal waves of the TS is consisted of the progressing wave from the north entrance and the degenerate amphidromic system from the south entrance, in which the progressing wave from the north entrance dominates the tidal wave motion in the strait. Except for the convergent effect caused by the landform and boundary, the degenerate amphidromic system produced in the south of the strait is another important factor for the following phenomena： the large tidal range in the middle of the strait, the concentrative zone of co-amplitude and co-phase line in the south of the strait. The degenerate amphidromic system is mainly produced by the incident Pacific Ocean tidal wave from the Luzon strait and the action by the shoreline and landform. The position of the amphidromic point is compelled to move toward southwest until degenerating by the powerful progressing wave from the north entrance.

Radial tidal current field in a semi-enclosed rectangular basin: formation and evolution

The radial tidal current field accounts for the formation of the radial sand ridges in the South Yellow Sea. Understanding the formation and evolution of this radial tidal current field is vital to assessing the morphodynamic features in the area. A semi-enclosed rectangular basin with and without a coastal barrier was schematized from the topography of the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea. The 2D tidal current field in this basin was simulated using the DELFT3D-FLOW model. The concept of tidal wave refraction, which highlights the effect of the sloped or stepped submarine topography on the propagation of the tidal waves, was introduced to explain the formation of the radial tidal current field. Under the effect of tidal wave refraction, co-phase lines of the counterclockwise rotating tidal wave and incident tidal wave are transformed into clockwise and counterclockwise deflections, respectively, leading to the convergence and divergence of the flow field. Regardless of whether a coastal barrier exists or not, the outer radial tidal current field might emerge over certain topography. The responses of the radial tidal current field in this basin to the environmental variations such as coastline changes and bottom erosions were discussed. Results show that local protrusion near the focal point of the radial tidal current field will have limited effects on the location of the tidal system. However, a remarkable shift of the amphidromic point toward the entrance and central axis of this basin and a movement of the focal point of the radial tidal current field toward the entrance could be caused by the significant seaward coastline advance and submarine slope erosion.

Modal recovery of sea-level variability in the South China Sea using merged altimeter data

Using 20 years （1993-2012） of merged data recorded by contemporary multi-altimeter missions, a variety of sea-level variability modes are recovered in the South China Sea employing three- dimensional harmonic extraction. In terms of the long-term variation, the South China Sea is estimated to have a rising sea-level linear trend of 5.39 mm/a over these 20 years. Among the modes extracted, the seven most statistically significant periodic or quasi-periodic modes are identified as principal modes. The geographical distributions of the magnitudes and phases of the modes are displayed. In terms of intra- annual and annual regimes, two principal modes with strict semiannual and annual periods are found, with the annual variability having the largest amplitudes among the seven modes. For interannual and decadal regimes, five principal modes at approximately 18, 21, 23, 28, and 112 months are found with the most mode- active region being to the east of Vietnam. For the phase distributions, a series of amphidromes are observed as twins, termed ＂amphidrome twins＂, comprising rotating dipole systems. The stability of periodic modes is investigated employing joint spatiotemporal analysis of latitude/longitude sections. Results show that all periodic modes are robust, revealing the richness and complexity of sea-level modes in the South China Sea.

Characteristics of Tides in the Red Sea Region, a Numerical Model Study

In this work, a two-dimensional numerical model based on Delft3D modelling system was setup to study the tidal characteristics of the Red Sea. Besides that, analyses of available observed time series of surface elevations were carried out. Sensitivity analyses of the numerical model were carried out by testing different model parameters aiming at selecting optimal settings. The model performance was evaluated against available time series of surface elevation observations. RMS error was found to vary from 0.03 to 0.1 meter, while the ADM values range from 0.02 to 0.05 meter. On the whole, the model is able to reproduce the tidal wave in the Red Sea, reflecting a consistent level of agreement with the observations and previous works. The model results suggest that the semidiurnal tidal waves play a major role in the region except in the central part of the Red Sea where amphidromic system exists. Major semidiurnal and diurnal tidal constituents were computed to generate co-charts and form factor. The results have revealed that the distribution of the co-charts of the major semidiurnal constituents M2, N2, and S2 show the existence of anticlockwise amphidromic system in the central part of the Red Sea at about 19.5°N, north of the Strait of Bab el Mandeb at 13.5°N and in the Gulf of Suez. The chart of the diurnal tidal constituent K1 showed a single counterclockwise system in the southern part of the Red Sea centred around 15.5°N. The form factor chart shows the appearance of diurnal character in the central part of the basin and the northern end of the strait. The hydrodynamics patterns under spring and neap tidal conditions were also analysed (during flood and ebb conditions). Model results showed that currents generally are weak and strongest currents are present in the strait of Bab el Mandeb and Gulf of Suez.