CURRENTS OFF THE EAST-COAST OF NEW-IRELAND, PAPUA-NEW-GUINEA, AND THEIR RELEVANCE TO REGIONAL UNDERCURRENTS IN THE WESTERN EQUATORIAL PACIFIC-OCEAN

In the Western Equatorial Pacific Ocean a coastal undercurrent lying w ithin 40 km of the east coast of New Ireland was in May 1988 found to be transporting high-salinity, low dissolved oxygen, high-nutrient the rmocline waters northwestwards towards the equator. Acoustic doppler c urrent profiler measurements showed the peak alongshore current speeds of approximately 60 cm s-1 occurred at 235 m depth and the volume tra nsport between the 24.5 and 26.5 kg m-3 isopycnals (approximately 176 to 320 m) was 2.0 +/- 0.1 x 10(6) m3 s-1. We suggest that this current be called the New Ireland Coastal Undercurrent (NICU). Just to the ea st of 149-degrees-E, the NICU was diverted to the north and forced to interact with the Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC). Transport budgets in the region bounded by 149-degrees-E, 153-degrees-E, 2-degrees-S and th e equator, between the 24.5 and 26.5 kg m-3 isopycnals show that appro ximately 5 x 10(6) m3 s-1 of water originating from east of New Irelan d, including the NICU was added to the EUC system. This accounted for approximately half of the southern hemisphere thermocline waters in th e EUC system at 153-degrees-E.