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Physical aspects of the flushing of the east Indonesian basins

1988; Elsevier BV; Volume: 22; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0077-7579(88)90003-8

1873-1406

Hendrik M. van Aken, J. Punjanan, S. Saimima,

Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena

The flushing of the deep basins in the east Indonesian archipelago is studied by means of water mass analysis, current observations and simple theoretical models. The Banda Sea and its secondary basins appear to be flushed from the Pacific Ocean with a typical flushing time of the order of 40 years. This fast flushing is made possible due to the high vertical diffusivity which is estimated to be of the order of 10−3 m2·s−1. Theoretical models to descrive the vertical distribution of tracers due to mixing and basin wide upwelling turn out to fit the data very well. The observations cannot be used to confirm the horizontal structure of the deep circulation which results from a simple β-plane model. The vertical structure of the Aru Basin and the Timor Trench is more complicated due to the presence of water from the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Banda Sea. But also here simple models can be applied.