No abstract

The transfer of Pacific water into the Indian Ocean through the Indonesian seas affects the heat and freshwater budgets of both oceans. The observed transport in the Makassar Strait, the primary Indonesian throughflow pathway, from January 2004 through November 2006 is 11.6 ± 3.3 Sv (Sv = 106 m3/s). This transport is 27% larger than observed during 1997 when a strong El Niño suppressed the flow. The 2004‐06 Makassar transport displays clear seasonal behavior, with associated heat and freshwater variability, in contrast to the El Niño dominated 1997 transport. The 2004‐06 transport reached maximum values towards the end of the northwest and southeast monsoons, with minimum transport are in October‐December. A sustained high transport is observed in early 2006, perhaps in response to an La Niña condition. The maximum throughflow occurs within the thermocline, as in 1997, though the longer 2004‐06 measurements also reveal a shallowing of transport as speeds increase. The transport‐weighted temperature is 15.6°C in 2004‐06, nearly 1°C warmer than that observed in 1997, presumably a consequence of El Niño.

Abstract.From late November 1996 to early July 1998 velocity measurements were made at two moorings within a constriction in Makassar Strait near 3øS. The 1997 average throughflow is 9.3 Sv, with an uncertainty of about _+ 2.5 S v depending on how the surface flow is taken into account. The results show that throughflow within Makassar Strait can account for all of the Pacific to Indian interocean transport. The correlation of transport to ENSO may be as high as 0.73, though the time series is too short to say this with assurance.

No abstract

/s) during the northwest monsoon (January to March) to À9.6 Sv during the monsoon transition (October to December). The annual mean transport is southward at 13.3 AE 3.6 Sv, with small year-to-year range from 12.5 to 14.0 Sv, substantially higher than measurements from 1997 when El Niño suppressed the transport (9.2 Sv).