Record Details

Indian Ocean research: Opportunities and challenges

DRS at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography

View Archive Info
 
 
Field Value
 
Title Indian Ocean research: Opportunities and challenges
 
Creator Hood, R.R.
Wiggert, J.D.
Naqvi, S.W.A.
 
Subject Indian Ocean
monsoonal influence
ecological impacts
physical forcing
 
Description Historically, the Indian Ocean (IO) has received relatively little attention from the oceanographic community and therefore remains substantially undersampled compared to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This situation is compounded by the IO being a dynamically complex and highly variable system under monsoonal influence. The biogeochemical and ecological impacts of this complex physical forcing are not yet fully understood. Specific questions and hypotheses have emerged from recent studies that have yet to be tested, such as the potential role of zooplankton grazing versus iron limitation in controlling phytoplankton production in the Arabian Sea (AS). Furthermore, the IO is a globally important denitrification zone, and it also appears to be a region where N sub(2) fixation rates are significant. However, there are still large uncertainties in the rate estimates for both. The IO is also warming rapidly, but the impacts of this warming on the biota, carbon uptake, and nitrogen cycling are unquantified. The increasing population density and rapid economic growth of the countries surrounding the Bay of Bengal and eastern AS make these regions’ coastal environments particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic influences. Warming and anthropogenic effects might also impact the huge myctophid stocks in the AS and other commercially valuable species. These potential influences and their socioeconomic ramifications need to be explored. Deployment of coastal and open ocean observing systems in the IO has created new opportunities for carrying out biogeochemical and ecological research. International research efforts should be motivated to exploit these opportunities for addressing the questions identified in this chapter
 
Date 2009-12-22T09:58:41Z
2009-12-22T09:58:41Z
2009
 
Type Book Chapter
 
Identifier In "Indian Ocean biogeochemical processes and ecological variability. eds. by: Wiggert, J.D.; Hood, R.R.; Naqvi, S.W.A.; Brink, K.H.; Smith, S.L.", 409-428p.
no
http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/3513
 
Language en
 
Rights Copyright [2009] AGU. All efforts have been made to respect the copyright to the best of our knowledge. Inadvertent omissions, if brought to our notice, stand for correction and withdrawal of document from this repository.
 
Publisher American Geophysical Union