Decadal sea level change in the South China Sea: salinity as a key contributor

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Zheng, Yuhang, Zhang, Yuhong, Duan, Qin, Zhang, Lianyi, Zhuang, Wei, Liu, Yunchen and Du, Yan (2025) Decadal sea level change in the South China Sea: salinity as a key contributor. Climate Dynamics, 63 (10). ISSN 0930-7575

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Abstract

Sea level change (SLC) in the South China Sea (SCS) is primarily driven by variations in ocean density, which are influenced by temperature and salinity. These density-driven effects, known as thermosteric and halosteric sea level anomalies (TSLA and HSLA), together contribute to steric sea level anomaly (SSLA). Previous studies have shown the significant role of TSLA. However, based on multi-source data, our analysis reveals that salinity plays a substantial role. We find that salinity changes in the upper ocean of the SCS exhibit a pronounced decadal variation, and the HSLA accounts for 55% of SSLA variations, and 48% of total decadal SLC, surpassing the contributions of TSLA with 45% and 40%, respectively. The Pacific Decadal Oscillation is an important factor in driving these salinity changes in the SCS, as it influences precipitation over the SCS and high-salinity water intrusion from Luzon Strait. The HSLA, hence, uniformly changes across the basin, with salinity changes in the upper 50 m contributing 70%. While, TSLA changes primarily arise from temperature variation in the 50–200 m layer within strip-like zones located west of Luzon Island. TSLA dominates SSLA changes in this region, whereas HSLA plays a dominant role in the southern and shallow areas of the SCS. These combined effects of the HSLA and TSLA shape the decadal SLC in the SCS. This study highlights the potential role of salinity in the complex regional SLC, providing valuable insights for future studies.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: decadal variability,pacific decadal oscillation,salinity,sea level change,south china sea,atmospheric science ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1900/1902
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
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Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 24 Nov 2025 13:30
Last Modified: 30 Nov 2025 07:30
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/101090
DOI: 10.1007/s00382-025-07886-3

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