The Indo-Pacific Throughflow within Ombai Strait
R. Molcard and M. Fieux.
Abstract - A current meter mooring was deployed for one year in December 1995 in Ombai Strait, one of the deep connections between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. The mean transport was estimated between 4 and 6 Sv towards the Savu Sea, depending on the horizontal extrapolation. Successions of intense events of one or two months duration nearly hide the expected annual variability with maximum in August-September. Although the mean currents in the upper 200 m were five times higher than below, the deep and wide strait section leads to a significant deep transport. Analysis of the hydrological characteristics of the concerned water masses corroborates the circulation given by the current measurements. The east-north-east current in December in the upper layer is thought to be related to the arrival of a Kelvin wave originated in the equatorial Indian Ocean and trapped along the coasts of Sunda Islands before entering the Savu Sea between Sumba and Flores islands. Direct current measurements have now been performed at least once within the most important passages and for one year. It leads to a total yearly average throughflow of 11 Sv with an error bar of 3 Sv.
