Sun Studio 12: C++ User's Guide

Defaults

If you do not specify -xthreadvar, the default used by the compiler depends upon whether or not position-independent code is enabled. If position-independent code is enabled, the option is set to -xthreadvar=dynamic. If position-independent code is disabled, the option is set to -xthreadvar=no%dynamic.

If you specify -xthreadvar but do not specify any arguments, the option is set to -xthreadvar=dynamic.