A review of the shelf-slope circulation along Australia's southern shelves: Cape Leeuwin to Portland

Abstract

A review is presented of the ocean circulation along Australia's southern shelves and slope. Uniquely, the long, zonal shelf is subject to an equatorward Sverdrup transport that gives rise to the Flinders Current - a small sister to the world's major Western Boundary Currents. The Flinders Current is strongest near the 600 m isobath where the current speeds can reach 20 cm/s and the bottom boundary layer is upwelling favourable. It is larger in the west but likely intermittent in both space and time due to possibly opposing winds, thermohaline circulation and mesoscale eddies. The Flinders Current may be important to deep upwelling within the ubiquitous canyons of the region. During winter, ..