Water displacements in the Pacific and the genesis of El Nino cycles

Sea level observations are used to estimate the amounts of warm water exchanged during the 1982–1983 El Nino event, indicating an eastward flux of about 40×10 6 m 3 s −1 . At the end of El Nino the equatorial Pacific is depleted of warm water which is lost toward higher latitudes. The duration of a complete El Nino cycle is determined by the time required for the slow accumulation of warm water in the western Pacific. The cycle constitutes an energy relaxation of the ocean‐atmosphere system.