Flow in the East Auckland Current (EAUC) system to the north‐east of North Cape, New Zealand is examined using data from two current meter mooring arrays, with supporting data from conductivity/temperature/depth (CTD) and satellite altimetry. Variable currents up to 45 cm s –1 were observed. The variability was partly attributable to changes in position and strength of the North Cape Eddy whose centre lies some 150 km offshore...

In the region between 30°S and northern New Zealand, vertical salinity profiles through the core of the Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) show a high degree of spatial and temporal variability, and this variability is much larger than that found in nearby ocean areas. Characteristic features are interleaving of salinity layers and large changes in the salinity minimum between adjacent stations. Quantifying the changes throug...

An ongoing observational program focused on variability in the subantarctic currents and water masses around southern New Zealand was initiated in May 1998. This paper describes the preliminary results deduced from CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) data collected during three hydrographic surveys, and moored current and temperature records between 1998 and 1999. An extensive archived data set has also been analysed to pro...

The Island Rule allows the wind‐driven ocean transport around New Zealand to be determined from wind stress over the South Pacific. The transport in the western boundary current can be derived from the difference between the island transport and the interior Sverdrup transport to the east. This method has been used to estimate the transport in the East Auckland Current (EAUC) using ECMWF and NCEP model wind‐stress data, which...

Tidal currents derived from current meter measurements are compared with the output from a barotropic tidal model of the New Zealand region. For the semi‐diurnal constituents there was very good agreement for the M 2 tide and good agreement for the S 2 tide. For the diurnal constituents (K l , O l ) it was found that as the amplitude of the constituents decreased so did both the model/observation agreement and the accuracy of...

Sea level and sea surface temperature variability at the Chatham Islands was investigated using data from 1992 to 1994. The study was aimed at testing the hypothesis that the Subtropical Convergence moves north and south of the islands and that the resulting (in phase) variations in sea level and satellite Sea Surface Temperature could be observed and hence used to reveal something about the temporal scales of these movements....

The East Auckland Current (EAUC) was investigated in 1994–95 using data from three CTD surveys (conductivity, temperature, depth) and moored current meters. The strength and position of the EAUC was found to be highly variable with most of the current re‐circulating around an anticyclonic eddy north‐east of North Cape—the North Cape Eddy. The position and intensity of this eddy changed resulting in complex flow patterns with a...