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Seasonal and interannual variability of water mass sources of Indonesian throughflow in the Maluku Sea and the Halmahera Sea

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Abstract

So far, large uncertainties of the Indonesian throughflow (ITF) reside in the eastern Indonesian seas, such as the Maluku Sea and the Halmahera Sea. In this study, the water sources of the Maluku Sea and the Halmahera Sea are diagnosed at seasonal and interannual timescales and at different vertical layers, using the state-of-the-art simulations of the Ocean General Circulation Model (OGCM) for Earth Simulator (OFES). Asian monsoon leaves clear seasonal footprints on the eastern Indonesian seas. Consequently, the subsurface waters (around 24.5σθ and at ~150 m) in both the Maluku Sea and the Halmahera Sea stem from the South Pacific (SP) during winter monsoon, but during summer monsoon the Maluku Sea is from the North Pacific (NP), and the Halmahera Sea is a mixture of waters originating from the NP and the SP. The monsoon impact decreases with depth, so that in the Maluku Sea, the intermediate water (around 26.8σθ and at ~480 m) is always from the northern Banda Sea and the Halmahera Sea water is mainly from the SP in winter and the Banda Sea in summer. The deep waters (around 27.2σθ and at ~1 040 m) in both seas are from the SP, with weak seasonal variability. At the interannual timescale, the subsurface water in the Maluku Sea originates from the NP/SP during El Niño/La Niña, while the subsurface water in the Halmahera Sea always originates from the SP. Similar to the seasonal variability, the intermediate water in Maluku Sea mainly comes from the Banda Sea and the Halmahera Sea always originates from the SP. The deep waters in both seas are from the SP. Our findings are helpful for drawing a comprehensive picture of the water properties in the Indonesian seas and will contribute to a better understanding of the ocean-atmosphere interaction over the maritime continent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong Key Laboratory of Coastal Ocean Variability and Disaster Prediction, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China

    Lu Wang, Lingling Xie, Qiang Li & Mingming Li

  2. Department of Navigation, PLA Navy Petty Officer Academy, Bengbu, 233012, China

    Lu Wang

  3. School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Lei Zhou

  4. Laboratory for Regional Oceanography and Numerical Modeling, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao), Qingdao, 266237, China

    Lei Zhou

  5. Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742, USA

    Quanan Zheng

Authors
  1. Lu Wang
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  2. Lei Zhou
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  3. Lingling Xie
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  4. Quanan Zheng
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  5. Qiang Li
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  6. Mingming Li
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Correspondence to Lingling Xie.

Additional information

Foundation item: The GASI Project under contract Nos GASI-IPOVAI-01-02 and GASI-02-SCS-YGST2-02; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41776034 and 41706025; the Foundation of Guangdong Province for Outstanding Young Teachers in University under contract No. YQ201588.

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Wang, L., Zhou, L., Xie, L. et al. Seasonal and interannual variability of water mass sources of Indonesian throughflow in the Maluku Sea and the Halmahera Sea. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 38, 58–71 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-019-1413-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-019-1413-7

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