Isothermal temperatures and transformations of the warm-core eddies in the western Tasman Sea

1983 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 681 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Airey

Warm-core eddies off the eastern coast of Australia are characterized by their isothermal core temperatures. For coastal eddies, core temperatures correlate with the latitude of the eddy at the end of winter. The isothermal temperature is used to identify and track eddies. Eddy positions from 1976 to 1981 have been charted to show patterns in their formation, drift and interactions with other eddies and the East Australian Current. To date, eddies have been named alphabetically in an ad hoc way that has caused confusion because of the unexpected behaviour of some eddies. To overcome this, a systematic way of naming eddies is suggested, which takes into account the eddy's history.

1983 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 587 ◽  
Author(s):  
DJ Tranter ◽  
DJ Tafe ◽  
RL Sandland

Several eddies in the south-western Tasman Sea were investigated to see whether they differed faunistically from the seas around them. Zooplankton samples (0-200 m) were taken by free-fall net for dry weight measurements and copepod analyses. The counts obtained for 20 species of copepod were used to classify 51 stations into (eight) groups. These were taken to constitute the major zooplankton habitats in the study area. These habitats corresponded in most respects with the known physical structure of the study area. Eddies were faunistically distinct from the seas that surrounded them. Eddy J was similar in 1979-1980 to the waters of the East Australian Current, which were periodically entrained within the eddy circulation. There were significant faunal differences between eddy J and eddy F, an isolated eddy sampled in December 1978.


1983 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 495 ◽  
Author(s):  
GR Cresswell

The evolution of warm-core eddy J was followed from March 1979 until May 1980. From March to October 1979, eddy J developed a deep surface mixed layer that, after summer capping, became a subsurface 'signature' for subsequent identification. During the first half of the observation period, eddy J was subjected to frequent peripheral injections of northern water, mainly from the East Australian Current but on one occasion from a northern eddy. Between mid-December 1979 and early February 1980, the signature layer of eddy J moved on top of the signature layer of another eddy. This is suggested to be an indication of the coalescence of the two eddies. The prehistory of eddy J was conjectured from the nature of a signature layer that the eddy already had in March 1979.


1983 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 525 ◽  
Author(s):  
DJ Rochford

Comparison of the salinity within and around warm-core eddies of the western Tasman Sea has shown (a) that such eddies have their origin solely within waters of the East Australian Current (EAC); (b) that as these eddies drift southward within the EAC, their salinity characteristics differ little from those of the surrounding water; (c) that after separation from the EAC at around 34�S., their salinity characteristics are generally conserved in the face of much lower salinities of the surrounding waters. This latter feature was especially marked in the case of eddy J, which maintained in the upper 250 m an abnormally high salinity signature to as far south as 40� Below 300 m, this eddy J contained remnants of another high-salinity eddy. Possible derivations of these deeper waters are examined.


2018 ◽  
Vol 123 (2) ◽  
pp. 1457-1470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Y. S. Bull ◽  
Andrew E. Kiss ◽  
Erik van Sebille ◽  
Nicolas C. Jourdain ◽  
Matthew H. England

1984 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 619 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Coleman

Altimeter data obtained over a period of 3.6 years (from April 1975 to November 1978) and over the winter period July-September 1978 from the GEOS-3 and SEASAT satellites were used to study the spatial distribution of mesoscale sea-surface variability in the Tasman Sea. Satellite data generally agreed with existing hydrographic measurements. Patterns of higher sea-surface variability were shown to be associated with the East Australian Current and eddy areas. Though the Tasman Front is known to be present at certain times of the year, it is concluded that it is not a permanent feature across the Tasman Sea. Low variability levels in the mid-Tasman Sea are seemingly dictated by the Lord Howe Rise, thus suggesting some sort of topographic influence.


1981 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 699 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Tomczak Jr

At temperatures of 8-18�C mean temperature-salinity curves for the Tasman Sea show slightly higher salinities in the south than in the north. It is shown that this is the effect of intrusions of Bass Strait Water which enters the Tasman Sea predominantly in winter and can be traced in individual stations over distances of 600 nautical miles along the shelf edge and 200 nautical miles offshore. The paths of individual intrusions and the degree of mixing are highly variable and seem to depend, among other factors, on the path of the East Australian Current and its eddies. This is interpreted as an indication that the eddies may play a major role in the formation of the water-mass characteristics of the Tasman Sea.


2013 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 301-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. S. Macdonald ◽  
M. Roughan ◽  
M. E. Baird ◽  
J. Wilkin

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