A Permanent Undercurrent Adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef

Abstract

A hydrological section adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) was completed several times during 1980 and 1981. The data indicate a maximum southward current near the surface and a northward undercurrent at depths of 300–900 m. A detailed section indicates a double cell structure in the northward undercurrent. The cell structure in the geostrophic velocity is also clearly evident in the dissolved oxygen distribution where distinct core layers can he seen. Such a current offers considerable scope for the recycling of biological material along this section or the GBR.