ARTICLE IN PRESS

Deep-Sea Research I 55 (2008) 1090– 1104

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Deep-Sea Research I
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/dsri

Hydrography and water masses off the western Australian coast

Mun Woo, Charitha Pattiaratchi 
School of Environmental Systems Engineering, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o abstract

Article history: The water mass characteristics of the eastern Indian Ocean margin between latitudes 211
Received 24 October 2007 and 351S, adjacent to the Western Australian coast, are described using field measure-
Received in revised form ments. The results indicated the presence of five different water masses as interleaving
28 April 2008
layers of salinity and dissolved oxygen concentrations in the upper 1000 m of the ocean.
Accepted 7 May 2008
Available online 21 May 2008
These water masses included (i) lower salinity tropical surface water (TSW), (ii) higher
salinity south Indian central water (SICW), (iii) higher dissolved oxygen subantarctic
Keywords: mode water (SAMW), (iv) lower salinity Antarctic intermediate water (AAIW), and
Hydrography
(v) lower oxygen north-west Indian intermediate (NWII) water. Data collected in 2000
Water masses
and 2003 were compared with historical data (1987), and interannual variability in the
Western Australia
Leeuwin current tropical surface water and subantarctic mode water masses were identified and linked to
Leeuwin undercurrent El Niño–southern oscillation (ENSO) events. In the study region, the circulation pattern,
known as the Leeuwin current system, consists of three major currents: the Leeuwin
current (LC), the Leeuwin undercurrent (LU), and shelf current systems consisting of the
Capes and Ningaloo currents. In the study area’s northern region, geopotential gradients
were found driving the Leeuwin current (LC) and Leeuwin undercurrent (LU), with a
(negative) sea surface slope of 4  10 7 driving the LC poleward, and a (positive) slope of
1 10 7 beneath the LC driving the LU equatorward. Cross-shelf geopotential anomalies
revealed the surface layer (in the upper 300 m) sloped seaward at a gradient of 1.7  10 6,
and the subsurface layer (between depths of 300 and 730 m) sloped coastward at a
gradient of 6.3  10 7. This arrangement of geopotential slopes, together with the
positions of the LU relative to the LC, indicated a dynamical relationship between the LU
and the LC. The data indicated the LU’s core was located at a depth of 400 m and it
transported subantarctic mode water (SAMW) equatorward. The presence of the Leeuwin
current and Leeuwin undercurrent at the continental shelf break and slope, respectively,
influenced the water mass distribution at the continental margin. Leeuwin Current
induced downwelling caused the surface and subsurface water mass (SICW) and the
SAMW’s upper edge to slope downward toward the shelf break while subsurface
upwelling beneath the LU moved the Antarctic intermediate water (AAIW) and the
SAMW’s bottom edge higher in the water column.
& 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Western Australian coast, where, although the wind

Eastern ocean basins are highly productive ecosystems
that support high primary productivity and large pelagic
finfish stocks. An exception to this rule, however, is off the
 Corresponding author. Tel.: +618 64883179; fax: +618 64881015.
E-mail address: chari.pattiaratchi@uwa.edu.au (C. Pattiaratchi).
regime is similar to that of other eastern ocean margins,
the waters are oligotrophic. Detailed studies of the
circulation patterns off the WA coast initially addressed
why the circulation off Western Australia was different
from that of other eastern margins, leading to the
discovery of the Leeuwin current (LC) and its dynamics
(Cresswell and Golding, 1980; Thompson, 1987; Smith
et al, 1991); subsequent studies addressed the LC system’s

0967-0637/$ - see front matter & 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2008.05.005
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M. Woo, C. Pattiaratchi / Deep-Sea Research I 55 (2008) 1090–1104
dynamics and variability (Pattiaratchi and Buchan, 1991;
Ridgway and Condie, 2004; Feng et al., 2003; Meuleners
et al., 2007).
In the absence of detailed data collected from the
continental shelf and slope waters, the region’s hydro-
graphy has been inferred from transoceanic sections
performed across other parts of the south Indian Ocean,
including (a) meridional sections along 1101E (Rochford,
1969a), (b) zonal sections along 181S (Warren, 1981; Field,
1997), and (c) zonal sections along 321S (Wyrtki, 1971;
Toole and Warren, 1993). Within the study region, the
accepted classical model of water masses for the upper
1000 m of ocean consists of south Indian central water
(SICW) and Antarctic intermediate water (AAIW) (Pinet,
1992); however, data from other studies (see a–c above)
have revealed the presence of additional water masses,
including lower salinity tropical surface water (TSW),
subantarctic mode water (SAMW), and north-west Indian
intermediate (NWII) water. Fieux et al. (2005) also
confirmed the presence of the above water masses.
The LC system consists of three major current systems:
the Leeuwin current, Leeuwin undercurrent, and shelf
current systems consisting of the Ningaloo, and Capes
currents (Woo et al., 2006a; Rennie et al., 2007). The LC is
an anomalous eastern boundary current, which carries
warm, fresh tropical waters poleward along the continen-
tal shelf break. Extensive observational and modelling
studies have shown that an alongshore geopotential
gradient, which overwhelms the opposing equatorward
wind stress, causes the LC (Thompson, 1984, 1987;
Godfrey and Ridgway, 1985; Weaver and Middleton,
1989; Batteen and Rutherford, 1990; Pattiaratchi and
Buchan, 1991; Ridgway and Condie, 2004). The LC is
weaker (1.5 Sv) as it flows against the southerly (oppos-
ing) winds during October–March (summer) and stronger
(7 Sv) when the southerly winds are weaker during
April–September (winter) (Smith et al., 1991). The mean
volume transport is estimated to be 3.4 Sv (Feng et al.,
2003).
The LU flows northward beneath the LC at depths of
200–400 m, transporting 5 Sv of oxygen-rich, nutrient-
depleted, higher salinity (435.8) water at a rate of
0.32–0.40 ms 1 northward (Thompson, 1984). An equator-
ward undercurrent was also apparent in steric height data
at 500 dbar/3000 dbar (Wyrtki, 1971) and 450 dbar/
1300 dbar (Godfrey and Ridgway, 1985), as well as in
current metre data (at 250–450 m) from the LC Inter-
disciplinary Experiment (Smith et al., 1991). It has been
suggested that an equatorward geopotential gradient at
the depth of the undercurrent drives the LU (Thompson,
1984) and that the LU’s water is advected northward
underneath the LC, transporting cooler, oxygen-rich,
higher salinity water from the surface of the south Indian
Ocean (Thompson and Cresswell, 1983).
Inshore of the LC, wind-driven, higher-salinity currents
have been recorded at several locations on the Western
Australian coast (Rochford, 1969b; Cresswell and Golding,
1980; Cresswell et al., 1985, 1989; Smith et al., 1991;
Gersbach et al., 1999; Pearce and Pattiaratchi, 1999; Woo
et al., 2006b). Generally, the northward coastal currents
are strongest in summer when the wind pattern is mostly
1091
southerly and has the greatest contribution from sea
breezes (Pattiaratchi et al., 1997).
In this paper, detailed field data—conductivity-tem-
perature-depth (CTD), dissolved oxygen, and acoustic
Doppler current profiler (ADCP) data—collected along
the Western Australian coast (Fig. 1) are used to describe
the hydrography and circulation of the upper 1000 m of
the water column.
2. Data sets
The data reported here were collected during two field
campaigns performed in the early austral summer
(October/November) of 2000 and 2003. Eleven cross-shelf
transects were obtained in the northern section of the
study region, between 211S and 281S (Fig. 1), between 13
and 27 November 2000 using the RV Franklin. The
instruments deployed included a Neil Brown CTD recorder
with a 24  5-L bottle Niskin rosette for calibration and
water sampling, a 150-kHz RDI acoustic Doppler current
profiler (ADCP) linked to the global positioning system, a
Turner Designs fluorometer, a near-surface thermosalino-
graph, and meteorological sensors. Data from the 14 cross-
shelf transects in the southern section were obtained from
24 October to 9 November 2003 using the RV Southern
Surveyor. Here a Sea-Bird CTD was used to collect the CTD
data. On both voyages, the cross-shelf stations extended
from 50 to 1000 m water depths. Depending on the width
of the continental shelf, 10–15 stations were occupied at
the 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 500, 750, and 1000 m
depth contours.
Additional historical CTD data1 obtained during
January–March of the 1987 austral summer were re-
trieved for comparison purposes from RV Franklin voyages
FR87/03 and FR87/04. All the CTD data were calibrated to
World Ocean Circulation Experiment standards to allow
comparison between years.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Water mass characteristics
Five different water mass types corresponding to the
Indian Ocean water masses (Wyrtki, 1971; Warren, 1981;
Fieux et al., 2005) were detected in the upper Indian
Ocean along the Western Australian coast (see Table 1).
These water mass types were observed as interleaving
layers in the vertical distribution of salinity and dissolved
oxygen. In order of increasing depth, these water masses
were:
(i) lower salinity tropical surface water (TSW),
(ii) higher salinity south Indian central water (SICW),
(iii) higher oxygen subantarctic mode water (SAMW),
(iv) lower salinity Antarctic intermediate water (AAIW),
(v) lower oxygen north-west Indian intermediate (NWII)
water.
1
CSIRO online database: http://www.marine.csiro.au/maru/marlin_
admin.source_list/.
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Fig. 1. Location map of the research area, including the positions of CTD transect lines performed during voyages SS09/2003 and FR10/00 and CTD stations
(over 1000 m isobath) obtained from voyages FR87/03 and FR87/04.

Table 1
The different characteristics of each of the water masses found in the 1-km-deep water column defined

Water mass Temperature range (1C) Salinity range Dissolved oxygen range (mmol/L)

Tropical surface water (TSW) 22–24.5 34.7–35.1 200–220

South Indian central water (SICW) 12–22 35.1–35.9 220–245
Subantarctic mode water (SAMW) 8.5–12 34.6–35.1 245–255
Antarctic intermediate water (AAIW) 4.5–8.5 34.4–34.6 115–245
North-west Indian intermediate (NWII) water 5.5–6.5 34.6 100–110

This table combines data from voyages FR10/00 (21.3–27.91S) and SS09/2003 (28.1–351S).
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When the temperature–salinity diagram and tempera-
ture–oxygen diagram obtained from measurements from
the northern study region were compared, it was evident
the salinity and dissolved oxygen distributions had an
inverse relationship (Fig. 2); this was highlighted when
the spatial distribution of properties was examined.
A north–south cross-section along the 1000 m isobath
line, parallel to the shore, is shown in Fig. 3. The salinity
distribution along the cross-section indicated a salinity
maximum and two minima (Fig. 3a); the dissolved oxygen
distribution indicated an oxygen maximum and two
minima, but located at different depths from the salinity
maximum and minima (Fig. 3b).
The locations of the five water masses and their
positions relative to each other were identified using
salinity and oxygen (Fig. 4) for the entire length of the
coast, from North West Cape (211S) to Cape Leeuwin
(351S) (see Fig. 1 inset). In the following sections, the
characteristics of each of the water masses are discussed
in detail.
3.2. TSW—salinity minimum
A layer of warmer (422 1C), lower salinity (o35.1)
tropical water, which corresponded with the tempera-
ture–salinity characteristics of the LC water, was found in
the surface water in the northern region. This water mass
was derived from the Australasian Mediterranean
water—a tropical water mass with origins in the Pacific
Ocean central water and formed during transit through
the Indonesian archipelago (Tomczak and Godfrey, 1994;
Wijffels et al., 2002). Field data revealed this surface water
Fig. 2. Temperature–salinity and temperature–oxygen diagrams showing interleaving positions of property extrema.
1093
mass was associated with lower nutrient (near zero) and
higher dissolved oxygen concentrations. (The reader is
referred to Woo et al. (2006a), for detailed discussions on
the different coastal surface water types and their
dynamics.)
At North West Cape (211S)—the study region’s north-
ern extreme—this water mass extended to 180 m (Fig. 4)
with a surface salinityo34.9. The water mass depth
decreased southward along the path of the Leeuwin
Current. The LC dynamics caused the salinity signature
(o35.1) of the water mass to disappear at 261S. An
alongshore geopotential gradient drives the Leeuwin
current, and geostrophic inflow entraining cooler, more
saline SICW (see below) from offshore is a LC feature (Woo
et al., 2006b).
3.3. SICW—salinity maximum
SICW was identified here as a salinity maximum layer
(35.1–35.9). Along the 1000 m bathymetric contour, ADCP
data revealed the SICW’s core moving northward along
26.8sT with a maximum speed of 0.3 ms 1. Near the shelf
break, however, this same water mass was part of the LC
flowing southward (Woo et al., 2006b). Here, ADCP data
indicated the LC extended to 300 m in depth, which was
the total depth of this water mass (Fig. 4). The SICW had a
temperature range of 12–22 1C and was associated with
weak minima of dissolved nitrate, silica, and phosphate; it
was found at the surface south of 29.01S, and the salinity
maximum depth increased northward from the surface at
29.01S to 245 m at 21.51S.
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Fig. 3. Three-dimensional ‘blocks’ of ocean depicting the cross-shelf (across transect J, the southernmost transect obtained from FR10/00) and along-shelf
(along 1000 m isobath) distribution of (a) salinity extrema and (b) dissolved oxygen extremes.

In the study region’s northern section, SICW salinity maximum agreed with the results of Wyrtki
was subducted underneath the TSW derived from Aus- (1971), who found higher salinity water across the
tralasian Mediterranean water. The observed surface breadth of the surface Indian Ocean at latitudes ranging
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Fig. 4. Major water masses observed at the 1000 m isobath along the Western Australian shelf. Asterisks on the surface indicate CTD station positions.
This chart combines data from voyages FR10/00 (21.3–27.91S) and SS09/2003 (28.1–35.21S).

Fig. 5. Sparse CTD data indicating the major water masses observed in 1987 at the 1000 m isobath. Subantarctic mode water (SAMW) was less ventilated
in 1987 than in 2000/3 (Fig. 4). Asterisks on the surface indicate CTD station positions.

from 25 to 351S. At these latitudes, an excess of This is then subducted below the surface water (Karstensen
evaporation over precipitation forms the higher salinity and Tomczak, 1997), extending northward to 12–161S
water at the sea surface (Baumgartner and Reichel, 1975). (Church et al., 1989), where it meets the lower salinity
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Australasian Mediterranean water flowing westward from
the Indonesian archipelago in the South Equatorial current
(Sharma, 1972; Tomczak and Godfrey, 1994).
In the literature, SICW has been identified with
different terminology but having the same TS character-
istics. Here, we follow the terminology of Rochford
(1969a) and Webster et al. (1979) and identified it as
SICW. The same water mass, with a salinity maximum,
was termed the Indian central water (Karstensen and
Tomczak, 1997); southern subtropical surface water
(Muromtsev, 1959); tropical surface waters (Ivanenkov
and Gubin, 1960); and subtropical surface water (Wyrtki,
1973; Fieux et al., 2005).
3.4. SAMW—oxygen maximum
Beneath the SICW, a water mass with high dissolved
oxygen concentrations of 245–255 mM/L and a core

Fig. 6. Differences between observations from 1987 (Fig. 5) and 2000/3 (Fig. 4) of (a) dissolved oxygen and (b) salinity. The shaded areas indicate values
were greater in 1987 than in 2000/3.
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occurring at 400–510 m was identified as SAMW. Comparing the data sets obtained over the different
The data revealed the SAMW had a temperature range of years revealed the SAMW’s characteristics changed
8.5–12 1C and a salinity range of 34.6–35.1; its s T value with the prevailing atmospheric conditions. The CTD data
ranged between 28.9 and 29.5. from RV Franklin voyages FR03/87 and FR04/87 (Fig. 1)
Deep winter convection at 40–501S in the zone were used to obtain a composite image of water masses
between the subtropical convergence and the subantarctic following the 1000 m isobath along the Western Austra-
front to the south of Australia forms the SAMW (Wyrtki, lian coastline (Fig. 5). Although of low resolution (com-
1973; Colborn, 1975; McCartney, 1977; Toole and Warren, pared with Fig. 4) because of the scarcity of data, the
1993; Karstensen and Tomczak, 1997; Sallée et al., 2006). figure, which shows data from 1987, clearly shows
As a deep convection rather than subduction forms the change in the SAMW; its dissolved oxygen signa-
SAMW, newly formed SAMW penetrates to a greater ture was 5–10 mmol/L higher in 2000 than it was in 1987
depth than newly subducted SICW (thus is comparatively
better ventilated) and moves northward from its forma-
tion region. The SAMW is important because its high
oxygen content ventilates the lower thermocline of
the southern hemisphere subtropical gyres (McCartney,
1982). The SAMW, which is formed to the south of
Australia (Wong, 2005) and transported westward by the
Flinders current, forms the source water for the LU (see
below).
The SAMW also corresponds to the Indian Ocean
central water (ICW), as defined by Sverdrup et al. (1942).
SAMW and ICW often have similar temperatures and
salinities; consequently, SAMW has been thought to
contribute to the ICW’s depth range (Karstensen and
Tomczak, 1997). However, Karstensen and Tomczak (1997)
showed the source characteristics of the SAMW differed
from region to region depending on the prevailing atmo-
spheric conditions when the SAMW was formed. The data
sets presented here, which were collected during non-El
Niño–southern oscillation (ENSO) years (2000 and 2003), Fig. 8. Schematic diagram illustrating the general flow patterns at the
with data from 1987, an ENSO year, confirmed this. continental margin.

Fig. 7. 1000 m isobath cross-sections of (a) dissolved oxygen (mmol/L) and (b) fluorescence (uncalibrated units). The white line in both plots shows the
core of the band of shallow oxygen minimum water.
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(Fig. 6a). The SICW’s lower boundary also overlapped with
the top of the SAMW (Fig. 5); this interaction lowered the
salinity at that interface (Fig. 6b).
Overall, all the major water masses’ positions remained
unchanged between the years, and there were no
changes to the core-defining signature of any other
subsurface water mass. Because atmospheric conditions
directly influenced the water mass formation, changes
were seen in the surface water; that is, the surface
salinity minimum was less intense, and surface water
with such low salinity did not seem to extend as far south
in 1987 as it did in 2000. The LC would have also
contributed to these changes since it transports less low
salinity water southward during ENSO years than during

0.1

100
0
200
-0.1
300

400 -0.2
depth m

500 -0.3

600
-0.4
700
-0.5
800

900 -0.6

1000
111.5 112 112.5 113
longitude E

Fig. 9. Transect I cross-section of ADCP alongshore velocities (ms 1) showing an equatorward Leeuwin undercurrent (LU) and coastal current and a
poleward Leeuwin current (LC). The trace lines show the LC and LU positions, as Meuleners et al. (2007) numerically modelled them.

0 0
-0.1 -0.1
0

100 0.1
2
-0.
0

200 0.2 0.4

0.3

0.6
0.9 .8
0.5

300
1
0
0.7

400
depth m

500

600

700

800

900

1000
111.5 112 112.5 113
longitude °E
1
Fig. 10. Transect I cross-section of geostrophic flow (ms ) relative to the surface showing the Leeuwin undercurrent flowing equatorward at a depth of
400 m.
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non-ENSO years (Cresswell et al., 1989; Pattiaratchi and
Buchan, 1991).
3.5. AAIW—salinity minimum
A salinity minimum (34.4–34.6) was observed beneath
the SAMW, indicating the presence of AAIW along the
coast. The water was cold (4.5–8 1C), and its core became
shallower northward (core depth of 875 m at 27.51S and
520 m at 21.51S); its sT values spanned 30.3–31.0.
The AAIW has been reported to extend northward from
the Antarctic polar front to latitudes 10–151S and to flow
more slowly than the oxygen maximum layer above it
(Warren, 1981).
3.6. NWII water—oxygen minimum
An oxygen minimum signature ofo110 mmol/L in the
northern region (21.3–24.51S) indicated the presence of
NWII water immediately beneath the AAIW. Occupying
depths of 800–1175 m, with sT values of 31.8–32.4, its
orientation implied southward deepening; as such, it may
extend farther south into the deeper ocean. The recorded
NWII water temperature was less than 5 1C, and its
salinity ranged between 34.55 and 34.65. The NWII water
was associated with maxima of dissolved nitrate, silica,
and phosphate.
Rochford (1961), Newell (1974), Webster et al. (1979),
Warren (1981), and Toole and Warren (1993) observed a
similar water mass of Red Sea origin (Rochford, 1964) in
other Indian Ocean regions. In situ consumption of
dissolved oxygen in water that had not been in contact
Fig. 11. Cross-section of dissolved oxygen levels for transect I showing the presence of the 4252 mmol/L core at 400 m depth corresponding to the
Leeuwin undercurrent core.
1099
with the atmosphere for long, presumably because of
much slower overall horizontal flow at such depths,
produced the low oxygen values (Warren, 1981).
3.7. Shallow oxygen minimum
Although not associated with a particular water mass,
an oxygen minimum layer was observed beneath the
surface layer throughout the study region (Fig. 4). It was
associated with maxima in nitrate, silica, and phosphate
concentrations. Its core followed the 26.1sT level, reaching
depths of 100–200 m. The oxygen minimum value
increased northward from 204 mmol /L at 27.51S to
175 mmol/L at 21.51S.
Rochford (1969a), Webster et al. (1979), Warren (1981),
and Church et al. (1989) reported similar oxygen mini-
mum layers. Rochford (1969a) also found a salinity
minimum associated with the oxygen minimum layer,
and proposed that since the oxygen minimum strength-
ened southward, a southward advection of lower oxygen,
lower salinity tropical water had formed the layer. The LC
southward motion, which dominated the flow at the shelf
break and slope, likely caused the southward motion
Rochford (1969a) recorded closer to the shelf edge.
In contrast to Rochford (1969a), the data collected
during this study did not indicate the shallow oxygen
minimum layer was associated with a lower salinity layer.
The oxygen minimum layer was actually associated with
higher salinity south of 231S and lower salinity to the
north. This was because the depth of the shallow oxygen
minimum’s core remained constant at around 160 m
throughout the study region (Fig. 4). Depending on the
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latitude at which observations were made, the oxygen
minimum layer was present in two different water
masses. To the north it existed within the surface tropical
water while to the south it was associated with the higher
salinity SICW sometimes within its core (i.e. at 26–311S).
The data indicated the shallow oxygen minimum layer
was closely related to a deep chlorophyll maximum
(DCM), centred at around 80 m depth, which was found
throughout the study area (Hanson et al., 2007). The
shallow oxygen minimum layer was located directly
beneath the DCM at each station (Fig. 7). This finding
was important when coupled with the increased levels of
nitrate, silica, and phosphate, as well as an increasing
minimum northward, as it provided evidence to reject
Rochford’s (1969a) hypothesis. Warren (1981) proposed
the water could be northward flowing, with an intensify-
ing oxygen minimum occurring when sinking detritus
decayed and released nutrients. Photosynthetic organisms
of the DCM live at depths with an optimal balance of
radiance from the surface and nutrients from below
(Hanson et al., 2005); hence the oxygen minimum layer
forms beneath the DCM regardless of the type of water
mass present.
4. Surface and subsurface current systems
Along the Western Australian continental shelf margin,
there are three main current systems, collectively defined
here as the LC system (Fig. 8):
(1) the Capes and Ningaloo currents—wind-driven equa-
torward surface currents on the continental shelf
(usually in depthso50 m) present mainly in the
summer under strong southerly wind stress;
(2) the Leeuwin current (LC)—a poleward surface current
located along the shelf break;
(3) the Leeuwin undercurrent (LU)—an equatorward
subsurface undercurrent on the continental slope.
The dynamics of the Capes, Ningaloo, and LC were
discussed in detail in Church et al. (1989), Smith et al.

Fig. 12. Transect I cross-sections of (a) salinity and (b) temperature. Circles along the surface indicate CTD station positions.
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(1991), Gersbach et al. (1999), Feng et al. (2003), Ridgway
and Condie (2004), and Woo et al. (2006a, b). Here, we
examine the LU dynamics, which have received little
attention in the literature.
The three current systems, associated with the LC
system, were identified from a cross-shore ADCP transect
obtained along transect I (Figs. 1 and 9). Because of the
ADCP’s depth limitation (to about 300 m), only the LU’s
upper portion could be identified; nonetheless, the data
indicated an undercurrent at greater depth. The ADCP data
were closely correlated with numerical modelling results
(Meuleners et al., 2007; Rennie et al., 2007) which
indicated the LU’s core was centred at a depth of 400 m
(Fig. 9). Northward flow in the surface layer between
111.51E and 1121E (Fig. 9) is due to the presence of an eddy
(see Woo et al., 2006b).
Estimating the geostrophic flow obtained from the CTD
data confirmed the depth of the LU’s core (Fig. 10). The LU
is closely associated with the subantarctic mode water
(SAMW). Along transect I—the longest cross-shore CTD
transect (Fig. 1)—a complete cross-section of the LU’s core
was identified from the dissolved oxygen distribution; the
current’s core consisted of a dissolved oxygen maximum
(252 mmol/L) centred at around 400 m depth (Fig. 11).
Although the LU may contain some SICW in the upper
layers, the data presented here showed the LU consisted of
SAMW, and not a tongue of higher salinity SICW, as
Thompson (1984) reported.
It is generally accepted that an alongshore geopotential
gradient drives the LC (Thompson, 1984; Godfrey and
Ridgway, 1985; Smith et al., 1991), which through
geostrophy results in onshore flow and downwelling. This
downwellling was evident as downward-sloping iso-
therms and isohalines at the shelf break (Fig. 12) and
caused the surface water, together with the SICW and the
SAMW’s upper edge, to be depressed downward ap-
proaching the shelf break (Fig. 3). Because the LU flows
northward, the opposite occurs, resulting in concomitant
upwelling. This upwelling was seen as upward-sloping
isotherms and isohalines below 400 m (Fig. 12); hence the
AAIW and NWII water and the SAMW’s bottom edge were
drawn upward approaching the shelf slope (Fig. 3).

Fig. 13. Geopotential anomaly in m2 s 2 plotted versus latitude from CTD stations recorded along the 1000 m isobath with straight line fits calculated
between (a) the surface relative to 300 dbar level and (b) 300 dbar relative to 600 dbar level.
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1102 M. Woo, C. Pattiaratchi / Deep-Sea Research I 55 (2008) 1090–1104

The alongshore geopotential gradients estimated from
the data along the 1000 m isobath (Fig. 13) indicated a sea
surface slope of 4  10 7 (from north to south) at the
surface 0–300 dB level, which is the driving force of the LC
(see above). In the 300–1000 dB layer, the slope is
reversed, with a value of 1 10 7, the driving force of
the LU equatorward. These values were comparable with
previous studies; for example, Hamon (1965) found that
the surface slope was 2.8  10 7 whilst Thompson
(1984) and Smith et al. (1991) reported it as 3.6  10 7
and 2.6  10 7 respectively. Similarly, for the Leeuwin
undercurrent, Thompson (1984) and Smith et al. (1991)
reported subsurface slopes of 0.4  10 7 and 0.2  10 7,
respectively. These results confirmed that the alongshore
geopotential gradient remained almost constant through
seasonal and inter-annual timescales (Hamon, 1965;
Godfrey and Ridgway, 1985).
The cross-slope geopotential anomalies (Fig. 14) in-
dicated a thicker surface layer landward and a thicker
subsurface layer seaward. We limited the calculations for
the subsurface layer to a maximum depth of 730 m to plot
a line with sufficient data points. To counter the scarcity of
data points, calculations were repeated for transects E, F,
G, and H (Fig. 1, in Woo et al., 2006b), and the average
values for geopotential slope were obtained later (other
transects were excluded, as their data were unsuitable
for calculations because of insufficient measurement
depths or interference from jets and eddies). It was found
that the surface layer (6–300 m depth) sloped seaward at
a gradient of 1.7  10 6, and the subsurface layer
(300–730 m depth) sloped landward at a gradient of
6.3  10 7. In geostrophic balance, this arrangement of
geopotential slopes contributed to the poleward flow in
the surface layer and the equatorward flow in the
subsurface layer.
The LC remains adjacent to the coast because of the
Coriolis force, but the dynamics that control the LU and its
position along the continental slope are unclear. Thomp-
son (1984) suggested the presence of the continental
slope allowed the constraint of the earth’s rotation to be

Fig. 14. Geopotential anomaly in m2s 2 plotted versus longitude from CTD stations recorded along the 1000-m isobath with straight line fits calculated
between (a) the surface relative to 300 dbar level and (b) 300 dB relative to 730 dbar level.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
M. Woo, C. Pattiaratchi / Deep-Sea Research I 55 (2008) 1090–1104
ρ1
ρ2
Flow out of the paper
Flow in to the paper
Fig. 15. A schematic of the Margules equation showing the interface
slopes and flow directions as applied to the Leeuwin current and
Leeuwin undercurrent (adapted from Knauss, 1997).
broken, although no theoretical explanation was given.
Based on the geopotential gradients discussed above,
however, a mechanism based on the Margules equation
can be used (Fig. 15). At the shelf edge, the LC had an
onshore component of flow, which depressed the
lower layer, especially beneath the LC. The subsurface
layer’s cross-shore gradient thus increased, causing an
associated LU flow close to the continental slope. This
implied that wherever along the coast the LC flow caused
downwelling, an undercurrent was induced to flow
beneath it.
Along Australia’s southern shelf, an undercurrent along
the continental slope—the Flinders current—has also
been identified beneath the eastward flowing LC. Here
the Flinders current flows westward (Middleton and
Cirano, 2002). Similar to the LU, the Flinders current is
also found along the shelf slope and centred at a depth of
400 m (Middleton and Cirano, 2002). The LU is a
continuation of the Flinders current, transporting sub-
antarctic mode water (SAMW) from its generation region
northward, as shown by Akhir and Pattiaratchi (2006).
Acknowledgements
We thank the captains, crew, and staff of the RV
Franklin and FRV Southern Surveyor for successfully
executing cruises FR10/00 and SS09/2003. We acknowl-
edge discussions with Will Schroeder and Ruth Gongora-
Mesas for the assistance in the preparation of the final
manuscript. A University of Western Australia research
grant, Vice Chancellor’s discretionary grant, and university
postgraduate scholarship awarded to Mun Woo funded
this work. This contribution is School of Environmental
Systems Engineering reference SESE 094.
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