On outflow passages in the South China Sea.

Both box and inverse methods are used to study the relative importance of outflow passages of the South China Sea. The physical meaning of the box model is described in detail, and its optimization is based on the most efficient way to remove the warm and fresh water in terms of the heat and salt budgets. The box model results suggest that the Kalimantan Strait is the main outflow passage, because the water near the Kalimantan is the warmest and freshest. The system of the South China Sea advects the warmest and freshest water through the wide Kalimantan Strait out of the South China Sea to achieve a quick heat and salt balance because of the huge amount of heat flux and large precipitation gained from the atmosphere. These results are confirmed by an inverse method, in which detailed dynamics and thermohaline structure are considered. The velocity distribution in the transect of the Luzon Strait revealed by the inverse method is similar to that obtained by earlier studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]