Hypotheses
The hypotheses that we propose to test are:
- Currents associated with remotely forced waves may spawn geostrophic eddies when they pass through the Strait. The flow is significantly impeded near the land due to frictional drag, causing strong current shears that result in barotropic instabilities. These instabilities may be responsible for submesoscale eddies with horizontal wavelengths of 6-15km, and mesoscale eddies with a larger scale which are basically geostrophic.
- Tidal forcing near the Strait may generate external and internal gravity waves that are seasonally dependent because of large-amplitude seasonal variations in stratification and currents, which are largely remotely controlled by the equatorial waveguides. Local winds within the Seas and near the Strait may play some role in generating cold filaments and eddies.
- El Niño events (such as 1997-1998) may exert a significant influence on the circulation and stratification of the Indonesian seas and thus affect the submesoscale eddy activity.