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The subsurface chlorophyll maximum (SCM) is widespread in the oligotrophic ocean and significantly contributes to primary production. One reason for the SCM formation is believed to be the rapid export of phytoplankton from surface layers, which might be caused by aggregation, faster sinking rates under nutrient limitation, or the formation of a resting stage. In this study, these three processes were included in a biological model to investigate their contributions to subsurface chlorophyll. To further identify their individual effects on SCM formation, four modeling experiments were carried out. Three used a simple approach with either (a) density-dependent aggregation, (b) accelerated sinking rate of phytoplankton, or (c) a resting stage. The other experiment combined all three approaches (a–c). A set of observations in the South China Sea was used to optimize the four experiments and compare their abilities to replicate observed values. The results of the experiments with the resting stage showed the best fit to the field observations. All experiments were able to capture major features of the chlorophyll field (e.g. surface bloom and SCM). The experiment with accelerated sinking rate failed to reproduce the observed profile of particulate organic carbon. The experiment with only aggregation predicted lower chlorophyll concentrations in summer than those measured in the field, while experiments with the resting stage reproduced more accurate chlorophyll concentrations. Formulas including the resting stage more successfully captured the timing of phytoplankton export than did those including aggregation and accelerated sinking rate. The processes of aggregation and accelerated sinking rate made small contributions to the SCM formation in the last experiment. Overall, these results show that introducing the resting stage improves SCM simulations of the South China Sea. The results of the experiment with only the resting stage showed that the resting cells shift rapidly from the surface water, encounter better nutrient conditions in nutricline layers, partially germinate into vegetative cells, become shade-adapted, and increase subsurface chlorophyll concentrations during summer, which contributes to SCM formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]