Physical oceanography of the Exmouth Plateau region, north-western Australia

Abstract

This paper provides an introduction to the physical oceanography of the Exmouth Plateau, a shallow region situated 250 km offshore of north-western Australia at latitude 20ºs. Information is derived from a 3-month intensive current-meter monitoring program run during Spring (August-October) 1978. The currents, during the survey, are strongly influenced by semi-diurnal barotropic and baroclinic tidal currents. Inertial period (35.2 h) currents are pronounced and strongest in the thermocline region. Mean flow patterns are moderate in strength, highly variable in space and are poorly correlated to the local winds. The observations are also marked by the intermittent presence of short-period (30 min) baroclinic currents of substantial energy.