Chapter 9 - Oceanic basin connections

Abstract

The Indian Ocean is an important conduit for the exchange of physical and biogeochemical properties through many distinct interbasin oceanic connections. The Indonesian archipelago provides a gappy pathway for warm tropical waters to enter the Indian Ocean from the Pacific. South of Australia, a complex circulation transports cooler subtropical waters from the Pacific while Indian Ocean waters from within the Leeuwin Current feed a series of currents along the southern Australian continental margin. Southern Ocean waters source both the deep and shallow overturning circulations into the Indian Ocean. The westward leakage of eddies spawned from the Agulhas Current off South Africa returns warm and salty Indian Ocean waters into the Atlantic and plays a significant role in the upper branch of the global meridional overturning circulation. This chapter discusses these pathways and highlights how they change with time and influence the circulation and properties of the Indian and global oceans.