km. Another is the formation of an anti-clockwise eddy by the upwelled Kuroshio southwest of branch current. Owing to the existence of this eddy, the outflow from Taiwan Strait was forced to continuously flow to further north. No direct interaction between the outflow of Taiwan Strait and Kuroshio Current was found.
3. Research activities in the South China Sea
National Science Council (NSC) has scheduled funding for this and next two fiscal years on two new national programs which focus on geophysical, climatic and ocean circulation studies in the SCS. These two programs immediately relate to the international program of South China Sea Monsoon Experiment (SCSMEX). The objective of these two program is to study the upper ocean thermal and current variability and the evolution of monsoon and Mei-Yu. Since the SCS is nearly a closed basin, the water exchange between the SCS and Kuroshio Current and the ECS through the Luzon and Taiwan Straits, respectively, will be the targeting courses. Before introducing the proposed fieldwork and corresponding time frame, a general background of SCS is presented in the following section.
3.1. Background
The SCS is the largest marginal sea in Southeast Asia. It occupies from the equator to 22° and from 99° to 121°E (Figure 3). The distribution of water and land characterizes the SCS and its surrounding seas as a region with one of the most complex structures on earth.
