Tang Qunshu, Wang Caixia, Wang Dongxiao, Pawlowicz Rich
Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China.
Physical Oceanography Laboratory, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
Sci Rep. 2014 Jun 20;4:5374. doi: 10.1038/srep05374.
Internal solitary waves (ISWs) in the NE South China Sea (SCS) are tidally generated at the Luzon Strait. Their propagation, evolution, and dissipation processes involve numerous issues still poorly understood. Here, a novel method of seismic oceanography capable of capturing oceanic finescale structures is used to study ISWs in the slope region of the NE SCS. Near-simultaneous observations of two ISWs were acquired using seismic and satellite imaging, and water column measurements. The vertical and horizontal length scales of the seismic observed ISWs are around 50 m and 1-2 km, respectively. Wave phase speeds calculated from seismic observations, satellite images, and water column data are consistent with each other. Observed waveforms and vertical velocities also correspond well with those estimated using KdV theory. These results suggest that the seismic method, a new option to oceanographers, can be further applied to resolve other important issues related to ISWs.
南海东北部的内孤立波（ISWs）是在吕宋海峡由潮汐产生的。它们的传播、演化和消散过程涉及许多仍未得到充分理解的问题。在此，一种能够捕捉海洋精细尺度结构的新型地震海洋学方法被用于研究南海东北部斜坡区域的内孤立波。利用地震、卫星成像和水柱测量获取了两个内孤立波的近同步观测数据。地震观测到的内孤立波的垂直和水平长度尺度分别约为50米和1 - 2千米。从地震观测、卫星图像和水柱数据计算出的波相速度相互一致。观测到的波形和垂直速度也与使用KdV理论估计的结果非常吻合。这些结果表明，地震方法作为海洋学家的一种新选择，可以进一步应用于解决与内孤立波相关的其他重要问题。
