Distinct mechanisms of marine heatwave formation in offshore waters of China

Zhibo CHEN; Ying WANG; Jiaqi WANG; Rong-Hua ZHANG; Yifan JIANG; Yu QI; Xinchi YU

doi:10.1007/s00343-025-4192-3

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Distinct mechanisms of marine heatwave formation in offshore waters of China

Physics | Updated：2025-10-16

- Distinct mechanisms of marine heatwave formation in offshore waters of China
- Journal of Oceanology and Limnology Vol. 43, Issue 5, Pages: 1405-1424(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.School of Marine Sciences, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
  2.School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
- Author bio：
  
  wangying_thw@nuist.edu.cn
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s00343-025-4192-3
  CLC：
- Received：15 July 2024，
  
  Accepted：19 September 2024，
  
  Online First：10 December 2024，
  
  Published：01 September 2025
- Accepted：
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CHEN Zhibo,WANG Ying,WANG Jiaqi,et al.Distinct mechanisms of marine heatwave formation in offshore waters of China[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2025,43(05):1405-1424.
DOI：

CHEN Zhibo,WANG Ying,WANG Jiaqi,et al.Distinct mechanisms of marine heatwave formation in offshore waters of China[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2025,43(05):1405-1424. DOI： 10.1007/s00343-025-4192-3.

摘要

Abstract

Marine heatwaves (MHWs) have become increasingly frequent and persistent in the context of global warming and the related underlying mechanisms are strongly region-dependent. We employed the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) CRW (Coral Reef Watch) daily mean sea surface temperature dataset spanning from 1985 to 2022 to comprehensively analyze the fundamental attributes and evolving patterns of marine heatwaves in the offshore waters of China. Eight pronounced marine heatwaves from frequently affected sensitive regions were investigated to explore their formation mechanisms. The relationship between the occurrences of marine heatwave and large-scale climate mode in the region was explored. Results show that the western Pacific subtropical high plays an essential role in triggering marine heatwaves in Chinese offshore waters

with an anomalous downward shortwave radiation flux acting to warm the sea surface

which is remotely associated to the large-scale sea surface temperature state. Distinct mechanisms for the MHWs were identified in the northern and southern offshore waters of China. MHWs in high latitudes (such as the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea) mainly occur during the negative phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)

while those in low latitudes (such as the South China Sea) are more common in about 5-month lags behind the El Niño

for which we purposed a mechanism to describe the main differences in the formation of MHWs in China and discussed the related implications.

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Keywords

references

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