HR: 0800h
AN: OS41B-0531    [Abstracts]
TI: Flows entering the Solomon Sea: observed features during the FLUSEC-1 cruise in August 2007
AU: * Maes, C
EM: maes@noumea.ird.nc
AF: IRD/LEGOS, Centre IRD BP A5, Nouméa, 98800, France
AU: Melet, A
EM: melet@hmg.inpg.fr
AF: CNRS/LEGI, faculté J. Fourrier, Grenoble, 38041, France
AU: Eldin, G
EM: eldin@ird.fr
AF: IRD/LEGOS, Centre IRD BP A5, Nouméa, 98800, France
AU: Lefevre, J
EM: lefevre@noumea.ird.nc
AF: IRD/LEGOS, Centre IRD BP A5, Nouméa, 98800, France
AU: Sudre, J
EM: sudre@notos.cst.cnes.fr
AF: CNRS/LEGOS, 14 Avenue Belin, Toulouse, 31401, France
AU: Varillon, D
EM: varillon@noumea.ird.nc
AF: IRD/LEGOS, Centre IRD BP A5, Nouméa, 98800, France
AB: The properties of water masses transported into the equatorial band by the subtropical gyre in the thermocline and below are of primary importance for long-term climate variations. At decadal timescales, the circulation of the southwest Pacific Ocean is suspected to play a major role in that variability. However, the region remains undersampled because of its remote location and the dynamics of the circulation is still poorly understood. Within the context of the Southwest Pacific ocean Circulation and Climate Experiment (SPICE), an oceanographic cruise has been staged from the IRD center of Nouméa on the R/V Alis in August 2007. The main section has been conducted at the entrance of the Solomon Sea from the Louisade archipelago to Guadalcanal Island, roughly along 10°S from 154°E to 160°E. Climatology across this section suggests that waters originating from the South Equatorial Current are transported by two main pathways through the Solomon Sea before joining the equatorial band. The main objective of that cruise is to quantify the respective contributions of the western boundary current in the west, and of the direct flow of the SEC in the east, to the circulation in the Solomon Sea. Conductivity- Temperature-Depth and 02 concentration profiles have been collected from the surface down to 2000 m depth in order to discriminate these different flows and the corresponding water mass properties. Currents measured by L-ADCP have also provided direct insights on the dynamical description of the deep flows entering this region. In addition to these in situ observations, outputs of a regional ocean circulation model dedicated to the dynamics of the Solomon Sea will be jointly analyzed and discussed.
DE: 4223 Descriptive and regional oceanography
DE: 4271 Physical and chemical properties of seawater
DE: 4283 Water masses
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting