New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts

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Variability of the oceanic temperature and salinity fields on the West Coast continental shelf South Island, New Zealand

R. A. HEATH N. M. RIDGWAY

New Zealand Oceanographic Institute Division of Marine and Freshwater Science Department of Scientific and Industrial Research P.O. Box 12-346, Wellington North New Zealand

Abstract Observations on temperature and salinity with depth made over the continental shelf on the northern half of the West Coast, South Island in January, March, and May, 1982 are presented and discussed. The presence of non-seasonal temperature and salinity variations extending over the entire shelf is evidenced by the change in the salinity and temperature fields between March and May. Continental slope current measurements and near-shore daily temperature observations both exhibit periodicities of 1-4 and 6 weeks; whether or not these periodicities are correlated with the major exchanges of shelf water cannot be determined conclusively from the present observations. Seasonal temperature variations on the West Coast, South Island, are much smaller than elsewhere on the New Zealand coast.

Keywords oceans; temperature; salinity; West Coast; Continental Shelf; currents; freshwater input

New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1985, Vol. 19: 233-245 Received 22 May 1984; accepted 22 August 1984

PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (883K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)

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