Distribution of Turbulence Mixing in Alor Strait

Alor Strait is the deepest channel in Alor islands after Ombai Strait. Contribution of the strait as one of the secondary exit passages of Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) has not been studied yet. The strait separates Flores Sea and Sawu Sea, and is featured by the existence of high sill within the strait, suggested that turbulence due to interaction between strait flow and bottom topography could drive mixing and then modify the water mass properties. The purpose of this study is to investigate transformation of ITF water mass and turbulent mixing process with Thorpe scale method. A hydrographic survey has been carried out in July 2011, in which 15 CTD casts were lowered in the strait. The results show that Alor sill depth is about 300 ms in the main gate. Maximum salinity of NPSW from Flores Sea within Alor Strait is significantly reduced due to strong mixing, perhaps driven by bottom topography and strait flow which creates turbulence. NISW (Northern Indian Subtropical Water) with maximum salinity layer at σθ = 23,5-24,5 is dominant in the southern part of Alor Strait (i.e. Sawu Sea). The existence of NIIW (North Indian Intermediate Water) is also found in the deeper layer of Sawu Sea. The average value of vertical eddy diffussivity (Kρ) estimate in the thermocline layer and deep layer in northern part and central part of strait channel is within the order of 10-3 m2 s-1. Lower order of Kρ in the thermocline layer and deep layer were found in southern part of the Strait (Sawu Sea), ranging from 10-6 to 10-4 m2 s-1. These indicate that the existence of sills in the northern part and central part of Alor Strait could drive mixing significantly. Narrowing passage of Alor Strait probably contribute to the high value of vertical eddy diffusivity due to highly turbulence flow.