The circulation of the depth-integrated flow around an island with application to the Indonesian throughflow

Abstract

Godfrey's Island Rule is rederived in terms of the barotropic streamfunction for flow in a stratified ocean with a rigid lid. A diagnostic island rule for describing interannual variations is proposed. This rule expresses the throughflow as a line integral of the wind stress from the tip of Iria-Jaya along a line of latitude across the Pacific down the South American coast back along a line of latitude across the Pacific to the southern tip of Australia and up Australia's west coast, the original rule, plus a modulation due to the difference between the depth-integrated pressure on the Australian coast at the northern and southern entrances to the Indonesian seas in excess of that required to balance the alongshore wind stress. Frictional and hydraulic effects, which could produce an excess pressure difference, are illustrated with a fine-resolution GCM. -from Author