Semidiurnal M2 internal tides in the Indo‐Australian Basin

Clear signals of internal tide propagation are found at the semidiurnal M2 frequency in the eastern South Indian Ocean over the abyssal plain of the Indonesian Australian Basin. We find a spatially and temporally coherent internal tide with phase propagation estimated from satellite altimetry suggesting generation along the Indonesian Archipelago and the Australian North West Shelf east of 115°E. A sinusoidal fit is used to estimate internal tide phase and amplitude along vertical cross sections from expendable bathythermograph (XBT) data along volunteer merchant shipping lines. It is likely tidal energy in the middle of the Indonesian Australian Basin is from both northern and southern source regions, and may sustain a second region of enhanced mixing for the Indonesian Throughflow.

[1]  Gary D. Egbert,et al.  A brief overview of tides in the Indonesian Seas , 2005 .

[2]  Leonid Mitnik,et al.  Ocean Internal Waves Observed in the Lombok Strait , 2005 .

[3]  L. Talley,et al.  Deep expression of the Indonesian Throughflow : Indonesian Intermediate Water in the South Equatorial Current , 2005 .

[4]  G. Meyers,et al.  Seasonal Characteristics of Circulation in the Southeastern Tropical Indian Ocean , 2004 .

[5]  G. Meyers,et al.  An Intersection of Oceanic Waveguides: Variability in the Indonesian Throughflow Region , 2004 .

[6]  H. Fernando,et al.  Spatial decay of energy density of tidal internal waves , 2003 .

[7]  L. S. Laurent,et al.  The Role of Internal Tides in Mixing the Deep Ocean , 2002 .

[8]  J. Wilkin,et al.  Ocean Interpolation by Four-Dimensional Weighted Least Squares—Application to the Waters around Australasia , 2002 .

[9]  J. Sprintall,et al.  Interaction between the Indonesian Seas and the Indian Ocean in Observations and Numerical Models , 2002 .

[10]  S. Wijffels,et al.  Intraseasonal Variability in the South Equatorial Current of the East Indian Ocean , 2002 .

[11]  P. Holloway,et al.  A regional model of the semidiurnal internal tide on the Australian North West Shelf , 2001 .

[12]  Susan L. Hautala,et al.  Characteristics of the Indo‐Pacific Throughflow in the eastern Indian Ocean , 1997 .

[13]  F. Henyey,et al.  Energetics of borelike internal waves , 1997 .

[14]  Gary T. Mitchum,et al.  Surface manifestation of internal tides in the deep ocean: observations from altimetry and island gauges , 1997 .

[15]  Arnold L. Gordon,et al.  Tidal Mixing Signatures in the Indonesian Seas , 1996 .

[16]  K. Akitomo,et al.  Tidal currents in the Indonesian Seas and their effect on transport and mixing , 1996 .

[17]  D. Quadfasel,et al.  The circulation in the source area of the South Equatorial Current in the eastern Indian Ocean , 1996 .

[18]  G. Meyers.  Variation of Indonesian throughflow and the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation , 1996 .

[19]  P. Holloway.  Internal Tides on the Australian North-West Shelf: A Preliminary Investigation , 1983 .

[20]  P. Holloway.  Tides on the Australian north-west shelf , 1983 .

[21]  J. Crease.  The Dynamics of the Upper Ocean , 1967 .