Most available wind products show a mean wind stress curl across the Pacific at 2°N that is close to zero, so a Sverdrup model predicts the western boundary current at the Asian coast to be nearly zero at this latitude. Thus, the Australasian circulation, or Indonesian Throughflow-which is estimated by a Sverdrup model to be (16 ± 4) × 106 m3 s−–is predicted to flow westward as a zonal jet from the northern tip of Irian Jaya into the Indonesian seas. If this Sverdrup flow pattern were valid, the throughflow would be supplied by (salty) South Equatorial Current water from the northern tip of Irian Jaya, while the (relatively fresh) Mindanao Current would all return eastward to feed the North Equatorial Countercurrent. Observed salinities in the Indonesian Throughflow are close to those of the Mindanao Current, suggesting that they are inconsistent with the Sverdrup flow pattern. The outputs of two recent ocean general circulation models are examined; in both models, the Indonesian throughflow is s... Abstract Most available wind products show a mean wind stress curl across the Pacific at 2°N that is close to zero, so a Sverdrup model predicts the western boundary current at the Asian coast to be nearly zero at this latitude. Thus, the Australasian circulation, or Indonesian Throughflow-which is estimated by a Sverdrup model to be (16 ± 4) × 106 m3 s−–is predicted to flow westward as a zonal jet from the northern tip of Irian Jaya into the Indonesian seas. If this Sverdrup flow pattern were valid, the throughflow would be supplied by (salty) South Equatorial Current water from the northern tip of Irian Jaya, while the (relatively fresh) Mindanao Current would all return eastward to feed the North Equatorial Countercurrent. Observed salinities in the Indonesian Throughflow are close to those of the Mindanao Current, suggesting that they are inconsistent with the Sverdrup flow pattern. The outputs of two recent ocean general circulation models are examined; in both models, the Indonesian throughflow is s...