Cool Indonesian throughflow as a consequence of restricted surface layer flow

Approximately 10 million m3 x s(-1) of water flow from the Pacific Ocean into the Indian Ocean through the Indonesian seas. Within the Makassar Strait, the primary pathway of the flow, the Indonesian throughflow is far cooler than estimated earlier, as pointed out recently on the basis of ocean current and temperature measurements. Here we analyse ocean current and stratification data along with satellite-derived wind measurements, and find that during the boreal winter monsoon, the wind drives buoyant, low-salinity Java Sea surface water into the southern Makassar Strait, creating a northward pressure gradient in the surface layer of the strait. This surface layer 'freshwater plug' inhibits the warm surface water from the Pacific Ocean from flowing southward into the Indian Ocean, leading to a cooler Indian Ocean sea surface, which in turn may weaken the Asian monsoon. The summer wind reversal eliminates the obstructing pressure gradient, by transferring more-saline Banda Sea surface water into the southern Makassar Strait. The coupling of the southeast Asian freshwater budget to the Pacific and Indian Ocean surface temperatures by the proposed mechanism may represent an important negative feedback within the climate system.     

Influence of the Indonesian Throughflow on the upwelling off the east coast of South Java

A wave-tide-circulation coupled model is used to simulate upwelling off the south coast of Java, Indone- sia. The results show that the vertical velocity off East Java is stronger than other parts in this area. The strongest vertical velocity is located approximately at 80 m depth. The annual averaged values of upwelling are 2.3 × 10-6 and 1.06 × 10-5 m/s for south of West Java and south of East Java, respectively. The vertical velocity from the model shows that upwelling off West Java has seasonal variability, while it is quite steady and strong off East Java. Additional numerical experiments show that the wind is not the dominant factor for the steady upwelling off the southern part of East Java. It is then hypothesized that the Indonesian Throughflow （ITF） may be responsible for the upwelling. To test this hypothesis, two scenarios are implemented, both of which block the outflow of the ITF. Sensitive study shows that the ITF plays a key role in the formation of East Java upwelling. The effect of the ITF can account for about 55 %-65 % of the upwelling.