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Subthermocline anticyclonic gyre east of Mindanao and its relationship with the Mindanao Undercurrent

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Abstract

The quasi-permanent anticyclonic gyre (ACG) east of Mindanao is a dominant feature of the subthermocline circulation in the southern Philippine Sea, and it is believed closely associated with the continuous northward alongshore flow of the Mindanao Undercurrent (MUC). In this study, the structure and variability of this ACG were investigated using the 1950–2012 output of the Oceanic General Circulation Model for the Earth Simulator (OFES), which can reproduce well the structure of the climatological intermediate-layer circulation and satellite-observed sea level variations in the southern Philippine Sea. Between 26.8–27.3 σ θ , the ACG covers a large area from the Mindanao coast to 131°E and from 3°N to 10°N. Its anticyclonic flow structure is unrelated to the surface Halmahera Eddy. The eddy-resolving simulation of the OFES revealed that the ACG consists of two components. The southern ACG (SACG) is centered at ∼6°N, while the northern ACG (NACG) is centered at ∼10°N. Seasonal and interannual variations of the ACG are linked to the variations of the northward MUC transport along the Mindanao coast, and the role of the SACG is more important than the NACG. Stronger (weaker) ACGs lead to greater (smaller) MUC transport. On the interannual timescale, the SACG shows a spectrum peak at 4–8 years, while the NACG has enhanced power within the 3–5-year band. A lead–lag correlation analysis indicates that interannual variations of the ACGs and the MUC transport are partly associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Possible causes for the ACG variability are discussed.

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Acknowledgement

We are very grateful for the insightful comments of the two anonymous reviewers that helped us improve the work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves (KLOCAW), Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Lina Song  (宋丽娜), Yuanlong Li  (李元龙), Chuanyu Liu  (刘传玉) & Fan Wang  (王凡)

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Lina Song  (宋丽娜)

  3. Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 80309, USA

    Yuanlong Li  (李元龙)

  4. Function Laboratory for Ocean Dynamics and Climate, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266000, China

    Chuanyu Liu  (刘传玉) & Fan Wang  (王凡)

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  1. Lina Song  (宋丽娜)
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  2. Yuanlong Li  (李元龙)
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Correspondence to Fan Wang  (王凡).

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Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (No. 2012CB417401), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDA11010204), the Pioneer Hundred Talent Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. Y62114101Q), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Nos. 40890152, 41330963), the NSFC-Shandong Joint Fund for Marine Science Research Centers (No. U1406401), the Global Change and Air-Sea Interaction (No. GASI-03-01-01-05), and the NSFC Innovative Group Grant (No. 41421005)

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Song, L., Li, Y., Liu, C. et al. Subthermocline anticyclonic gyre east of Mindanao and its relationship with the Mindanao Undercurrent. Chin. J. Ocean. Limnol. 35, 1303–1318 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-017-6111-8

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