Delcroix Thierry auteur aut IRD Hénin Christian auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access Major features of the southwestern tropical Pacific (SWTP), defined between 160E-140W and 24S-10S, are brought to light through analysis of surface water samples (23000) and temperature/depth observations (8500), both collected by ship opportunity programs during the 1979-85 period. The mean vertical thermal structure (and its related parameters), mean sea surface temperature (SST) and salinity (SSS) are first portrayed, to further quantify the 1979-85 variability. It is demonstrated that the observed seasonal and interannual variabilities, the latter being associated with the strong 1982-83 El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event, are mostly governed by specific mechanisms involving varying wind field and rainfall regimes. specialized EL NINO VARIATION SAISONNIERE TEMPERATURE DE SURFACE THERMOCLINE STRUCTURE THERMIQUE 032CLIMET 47 777-812 1989 0022-2402 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:30116 0022-2402 [F B30116] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:30116 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_5/b_fdi_23-25/30116.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 1990-06-11 2006-05-30 fdi:30116 fre