AN amazing wall of water, described as a 40km wide disc, has been detected travelling south of Australia in the Tasman Sea around Tasmania and possibly as far as the Indian Ocean.

New deep-diving ocean gliders have discovered the 200m-deep formation in ocean eddies formed by the East Australian Current.

Scientists from the CSIRO and the University of Technology Sydney have published the new research in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

The discovery is being hailed a success for the $200,000 gliders, which can produce data from a depth of 1000m and are part of a $230 million marine observation program.

"In this case, we have seen for the first time a 200 metres tall, 40 kilometres wide disc formed from water that originated in Bass Strait and that amazingly remains undiluted as it travels hundreds of kilometres," UTS scientist Dr Mark Baird said.

"This new discovery is a clear example of the benefits arising from a significantly enhanced technical ability to explore our oceans."

Scientists have known that Bass Strait water flows into the Tasman Sea north-east of Flinders Island, a feature known as the Bass Strait Cascade.

But now they think it could travel thousands of kilometres further.

"East of Tasmania we found bodies of water entrained in the ocean eddies that were originally formed six months previously in Bass Strait," CSIRO scientist Ken Ridgway said.

"Further measurements show that at least some of this Bass Strait water makes the journey past southern Tasmania and possibly thousands of kilometres into the Indian Ocean."

Deployed in 2010 and 2011, the gliders were programmed to observe the East Australian Current and ocean eddies up to 200km wide that form off NSW.

The scientists say the discovery will help the study of food chains and climate change in Australia's oceans.

Originally published as Scientists discover journeying water wall