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Hydrography and biogeochemistry of the north western Bay of Bengal and the north eastern Arabian Sea during winter monsoon

DRS at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography

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Title Hydrography and biogeochemistry of the north western Bay of Bengal and the north eastern Arabian Sea during winter monsoon
 
Creator Balachandran, K.K.
Laluraj, C.M.
Jyothibabu, R.
Madhu, N.V.
Muraleedharan, K.R.
Vijay, J.G.
Maheswaran, P.A.
Ashraf, T.T.M.
Nair, K.K.C.
Achuthankutty, C.T.
 
Subject Stratification
Barrier layer
Thermal inversion
North eastern Arabian Sea
North western Bay of Bengal
Winter cooling
 
Description The north eastern Arabian Sea and the north western Bay of Bengal within the Indian exclusive economic zone were explored for their environmental characteristics during the winter monsoons of 2000 and 2001 respectively. The two regions were found to respond paradoxically to comparable intensities of the atmospheric forcing. There is an asymmetry in the net heat exchange of these two basins with atmosphere because of the varying thickness of barrier layer. During winter, the convective mixing in the Arabian Sea is driven by net heat loss from the ocean, whereas the Bay of Bengal does not contribute to such large heat loss to the atmosphere. It appears that the subduction of high saline Arabian Sea water mass is the mechanism behind the formation of a barrier layer in the northeast Arabian Sea; whereas that in the Bay of Bengal and the southeast Arabian Sea are already established as due to low saline water mass. The weak barrier layer in the Arabian Sea yields to the predominance of convective mixing to bring in nitrate-rich waters from the deeper layers to the surface, thereby supporting enhanced biological production. On the other hand, the river discharge into the Bay of Bengal during this period results in the formation of a thick and stable barrier layer, which insulates vertical mixing and provide oligotrophic condition in the Bay.
 
Date 2008-10-17T11:15:58Z
2008-10-17T11:15:58Z
2008
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Journal of Marine Systems, Vol.73; 76-86p.
http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/1455
 
Language en
 
Rights An edited version of this paper was published by Elsevier. Copyright [2008] Elsevier
 
Publisher Elsevier