CONTINENTAL SHELF WAVES ALONG THE COASTS OF CHINA

Spectral analyses have been carried out on the time-series data from 16 tide stations and nearby weather stations along the coasts of China during the winter of 1980-1981 and the summer of 1981. After removing the wind and barometric effects, the authors found the signals of the southward moving sea-level variations at about 0.21 and 0.32 cpd along the coasts of the Huanghai Sea, East China Sea and South China Sea in winter, and only the 0.26 cpd southward moving sea-level variations along the coast of the South China Sea in summer. Using simple analytical models based on idealized bottom profiles of the China Seas, the observed phenomena can be explained as the lowest-mooe continental shelf waves travelling along the coasts of China.