Abstract
Between March 1990 and March 1994, six cruises were made by Australian, New Zealand, and United States investigators in the Tasman Sea, occupying World Ocean Circulation Experiment repeat hydrographic lines PR11 (30°S) and PR13N (43°S). The northern section was occupied five times, the southern section was occupied four times. All sections measured temperature and salinity from the ocean surface to the bottom. Baroclinic transports through these sections are highly variable, and confirm that there is considerable eddy energy in the East Australian Current. The East Australian Current, when defined to be the main southward flowing branch, has transports varying from 22.2 to 42.2 Sv, although much of this is recirculated. As a result the total transport into the Tasman Sea, between Australia and 173°E, varies from 8.0 to 25.5 Sv. When plotted as a function of season, these transports are well fit by annual‐period sinusoids, suggesting that any interannual variability is aliased by the annual cycle.