Seasonal variation of some oceanographic parameters in the Arafura Sea - Gulf of Carpentaria

Abstract

The shallow continental shelf of Arafura Sea-Gulf of Carpentaria borders the Torres Strait in the east and the deep Banda Sea in the west, where the monsoonal winds system controls shelf circulation. This study aims to investigate spatial and temporal variation of shelf circulation, surface temperature (SST), seas surface height (SSH), using the multi-datasets of validated model output and satellite-derived data. The model reproduced well the satellite derived SST and SSH (corr.> 0.98). The northwesterly monsoonal winds are fully developed between December and February (NWM period), but the southeasterly winds are intensified during the southeast monsoon (SEM). During the monsoon breaks, the southeasterly-easterly winds are still dominant. The shelf circulation is coincident with the wind direction. During the NMW period the eastward flows from Banda basin and Timor Sea are dominant, creating a clockwise circulation within the Gulf. In contrast, the westward flow dominates during the SEM period, creating an anti-clockwise circulation in the Gulf. Exchange of water via the Torres Strait is also seen. Spatial pattern of temperature and SSH reveal a dissimilarity between the Gulf and the Arafura Sea (99.9% of explained variance) with dominant periodicity of annual and semi-annual scales.