Hydrography of the west coast of India during the Pre-monsoon period of the year 1962

Abstract

A detailed hydrographlc survey of the west coast of India from Cape Comorin in the south to Veraval in tie north was undertaken during the cruises of R. V. VARUNA in the early part of 1962 i.e. January-May. These cruises were covered in several legs and the leg from Ratnagiri to Veraval is of important, since it was the first time, a systematic survey of the area was made as part of the Fishery- Hydrography programme of the C.M.F.R.I. The present account is based on the results obtained during this last phase of these cruises. The area from coast to sUghtly beyond the continental shelf was covered with seven hydrograjAic sections, mostly latitudinal, (except an oblique section off Veraval) comprising in all 56 stations (Fig. 1). The spacing between the stations was fixed as 15 miles. As stable conditions were expected during the period of observation, closer spacing of stations was not considered necessary. Serial observations of temperature and salinity were made at all international depths from surface to the bottom at every station. Samples for dissolved oxygen were collected from a few stations initially, but the sampling could not be continued owing to accidental loss of the oxygen-fixing reagents.