A warm water current that runs south down the east coast of Australia, starting in the Coral Sea before turning east and heading towards New Zealand. The south extent can sometimes reach south of Tasmania. The sea level can be almost a metre higher in the north (because the warm surface expands), causing it to flow ‘downhill’ at rates of about four knots [1]. The direction of the current isn’t actually downhill, it’s influenced by a force known as coriolisAs the Earth spins west to east a phenomenon known as Coriolis creates a generalised movement of currents and winds. If Earth was a perfect sphere covered by a uniform layer of water, this would manifest into currents and winds moving east to west and a series of interlocking eddies north and south of the equator, of diminishing size from More, which creates ocean and weather circulation, based on the rotation of the Earth and the ocean that flows over its hard core.
- Ridgway, Ken & Hill, Katy. (2009). The East Australian Current. A Marine Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Report Card for Australia 2009, NCCARF Publication. The East Australian Current (EAC) is a complex and highly energetic western boundary system in the south-western Pacific off eastern Australia. The EAC provides both the western boundary of the South Pacific Gyre and the linking element between the Pacific and Indian Ocean gyres. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228492387_The_East_Australian_Current
