Alberty M. auteur aut IRD Sprintall J. auteur aut IRD MacKinnon J. auteur aut IRD Germineaud C. auteur aut IRD Cravatte Sophie auteur aut IRD Ganachaud Alexandre auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access The Solomon Sea is a marginal sea in the western Pacific warm pool that contains the South Pacific low latitude western boundary currents. These low latitude western boundary currents chiefly exit the Solomon Sea through three channels (Vitiaz Strait, St. George's Channel, and Solomon Strait) and serve as the primary source water for the Equatorial Undercurrent. Simulations have shown that transport partitioning between the straits determines the water mass structure of the Equatorial Undercurrent, but the relative contributions of transport through each strait have not been observed before. As part of the Southwest Pacific Ocean Circulation and Climate Experiment, an array of moorings was deployed simultaneously in the three outflow channels of the Solomon Sea from July 2012 until March 2014 to resolve transport and water properties in each strait. Above deep isopycnals (sigma(0) <= 27.5), Vitiaz and Solomon Straits account for 54.2% and 36.2% of the mean transport, respectively, with the remaining 9.6% exiting through St. George's Channel. The strongest subinertial transport variability is observed in Solomon Strait and dominates total Solomon Sea transport variability, and a significant fraction of this variability is at intraseasonal time scales. Finally, a previously unobserved deep current at 1,500-m depth is found to enter the Solomon Sea through Solomon Strait, with a deployment-mean transport of 4.6 Sv (Sv equivalent to 10(6) m(3)/s). specialized tropical Pacific low latitude western boundary currents Solomon Sea mooring observations intraseasonal variability PACIFIQUE ZONE TROPICALE 032 124 11 8166-8192 2019 2169-9275 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010077351 10.1029/2019jc015143 2169-9275 [F B010077351] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010077351 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/depot/2020-09-23/010077351.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2020-01-07 2025-02-24 fdi:010077351 fre