OSD Ocean Science Discussions OSD Ocean Sci. Discuss. 1812-0822 Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/osd-3-199-2006 Interannual variations of water mass properties and volumes in the Southern Ocean Tomczak M. 1 Liefrink S. 1 School of Chemistry, Physics and Earth Sciences, the Flinders University of South Australia, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide SA 5001, Australia 17 05 2006 3 3 199 219 Copyright: © 2006 M. Tomczak 2006 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ This article is available from https://os.copernicus.org/preprints/3/199/2006/osd-3-199-2006.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://os.copernicus.org/preprints/3/199/2006/osd-3-199-2006.pdf

Time-resolving optimum multi-parameter (TROMP) analysis is used to study interannual variability of water mass properties in the Southern Ocean in a section between Antarctica and Tasmania for the period 1991–1996. Water mass properties were stable during 1994–1996 but showed departures from their 1994-1996 values during 1991 and 1993. TROMP analysis is unable to quantify the interannual variation in detail, but it is shown that interannual variability does not invalidate the findings of a previous study that was based on the assumption of time-invariable water mass properties and suggested large interannual fluctuations in the water mass volumes south of Tasmania.