Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Mooring observations in the Halmahera Sea during September 2018 through October 2020 show a mean transport of 0.37–0.76 Sv through the Gebe Strait into the Indonesian seas. This estimate, together with mooring measurements in the Makassar Strait, the Maluku Channel, and the Jailolo Strait of the Halmahera Sea, suggests the total mean transport of the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) to be 16.8 Sv ± 1.0 Sv (1 Sv = 10 6 m 3 s −1 ), larger than the 15 Sv mean transport previously measured at the exit straits. Mooring data in the Maluku and Halmahera Seas, combined with Lagrangian tracking of the Makassar Strait throughflow using reanalysis velocity, show that 40% of the total ITF transport comes directly from the South Pacific Ocean. The above findings have revised the traditional concept that the ITF comes mainly from the North Pacific. One Sentence Summary The direct South Pacific to Indian Ocean transfer into the Great Ocean Conveyor is revealed.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1029/2025gl116805
Institutions: Hohai University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Natural Resources, Institute of Oceanology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, First Institute of Oceanography, Sun Yat-sen University, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Sam Ratulangi University, National Research and Innovation Agency, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
Language: English
Subfield: Oceanography
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,190
OpenAlex ID: W7116705384