Mean Water and Current Structure during the Hawaii-to-Tahiti Shuttle Experiment

Abstract Mean sections based on data from a discrete one-year period during the Hawaii-to-Tahiti Shuttle Experiment are used to describe and analyse the equatorial current system, its water masses and the transverse circulation in the central Pacific Ocean. Computations of mean geostrophic transports for the individual currents identify the south equatorial current as the strongest flow, transporting 55 × 106 m3 s−1. Information derived from the water mass and nutrient distributions is used to develop a consistent picture of the transverse circulation and of the role of the different divergences and convergences.