A Time Series of Expendable Bathythermograph Sections Across the East Australian Current

Abstract

Expendable bathythermograph sections of temperature were made eastward from Sydney to 156º E. at 2-week intervals over the period July 1969 to July 1975. The mean seasonal cycles of temperature at the surface and at 240 m depth are presented, as well as the time series of 240 m temperature. The results suggest a westward movement of disturbances and also imply a connection between measurements in the deep ocean and events on the continental shelf.

The histogram of temperature at 240 m at 152º E. is very different from that at 154º E., the latter being distinctly bimodal. These histograms are compared with that of mean sea level at Lord Howe Island which is also bimodal.