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Mud banks of Kerala - their formation and characteristics

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Title Mud banks of Kerala - their formation and characteristics
 
Creator Gopinathan, C. K.
Qasim, S. Z.
 
Description 105-114
Mud banks become clearly demarcated as areas of calm water adjoining the Kerala coast, during the roughest SW monsoon conditions prevailing in the Arabian Sea. The appearance of mud banks is associated with an increase in the constancy and force of wind towards the east. Surface currents at that time run parallel to the coast and record maximum velocity. During June and July, strong swells approach the SW coast. Along the continental shelf, between Mangalore and Quilon, the nature of bottom from about 3.5 to 18 m depth is largely muddy. Mud banks occur as small elevations of consolidated mud throughout the year. During the SW monsoon, because of wave action, the fine mud particles get churned up into a thick suspension. A semicircular periphery then develops around the suspended mud in which wave energy gets consistently absorbed. This condition has been termed as the active almost every year are persistent types of mud banks. When the mud gets into suspension by wave action, the southerly currents drive the entire floating mass slowly towards the south. If however, the wave action is not strong enough, there will be no movement or when strong swells approach from the south, either the entire suspended mass or a portion of it may exhibit northern movement. These deductions have been made on the basis of observations made on a persistent mud bank near Alleppey throughout the year. Mud banks are well known for their fishery during the monsoon months. The calm waters of the mud bank act as a temporary fishing harbour. However, the mere existence of mud in an area is not enough to form mud banks. The mud of the right texture must get consolidated at the right depth where wave action could churn it up into a thick suspension. The presence of mud bank disturbs the shore stability of that region and induces coastal erosion in adjacent areas.
 
Date 2017-01-03T06:28:27Z
2017-01-03T06:28:27Z
1974-12
 
Type Article
 
Identifier 0975-1033 (Online); 0379-5136 (Print)
http://nopr.niscair.res.in/handle/123456789/39561
 
Language en_US
 
Rights CC Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India
 
Publisher NISCAIR-CSIR, India
 
Source IJMS Vol.03(2) [December 1974]