Transports in the Pacific Equatorial Countercurrent

Abstract

The Pacific Equatorial Countercurrent flows from west to east across the entire Pacific Ocean, a few degrees north of the equator. Extensive efforts have been made in recent years to collect oceanographic data in the Pacific equatorial regions, resulting in a large accumulation of bathythermograph and, to a lesser extent, hydrographic data. A method will be introduced by which transports in the countercurrent can be estimated solely from bathythermograph data. A comparison between geostrophically calculated transports and values derived from the thermal structure will demonstrate the validity of this new method.