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The Arabian Sea is the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean, covering a total area of about 4 000 000 square km
and forming part of the principal sea route between Europe and India.
It is bounded to the west by the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, to the north by Iran and Pakistan, to the
east by India, and to the south by the remainder of the Indian Ocean. To the north the Gulf of Oman connects the sea
with the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz. To the west the Gulf of Aden connects it with the Red Sea via the Bab
el-Mandeb (Bab al-Mandab) Strait.
 Physical features

( Most of the Arabian Sea has depths that exceed

2,990 metres, and there are no islands in the
middle.

( Deep water reaches close to the bordering

lands except in the northeast, off Pakistan and
India.

( To the southeast the Lakhadeeve atolls form

part of the submarine Maldive Ridge, which
extends farther south into the Indian Ocean
where it rises above the surface to form the

atolls of the Maldives.

Global topography at 30 minute resolution is

shown via a pseudo-colored, radially deformed
surface
 Historical development
( To unravel the mysteries of the monsoon developing
over the Indian Ocean, a multinational effort was
made in the form of International Indian Ocean
Expedition (IIOE) during the period 1963-65 during
which aircraft soundings (drop-sondes) were
launched for the first time.

( After the IIOE, the Indo-Soviet Monsoon Experiment

(ISMEX-73) was conducted during the summer of
1973 by U.S.S.R. and India.
Six research vessels (four from the U.S.S.R. and two
from India) obtained meteorological and
oceanographic measurements over the Arabian Sea,
the equatorial region and southern Indian Ocean.

( The Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) was an

international and multi-disciplinary project with
participants from more than 20 countries. Its aim was
to understand the processes controlling the cycling
of carbon in the oceans, its exchange with the
atmosphere and sea floor, and the sensitivity of
these processes to climate changes. JGOFS was
launched in 1987 under the auspices of the Scientific
Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR). The
CDROM contains CTD, XBT and SeaSoar data for the
Arabian Sea area that were collected as part of the
JGOFS Arabian Sea Process Study (1990-1997).
„etherlands Indian Ocean Programme („IOP, 1990-1995) -studied the effect
of the monsoon on the climate system in the northern Indian Ocean. The
CD-ROM contains information on the research themes, scientists involved
and instruments used.

Arabesque is the UK contribution to the JGOFS Arabian Sea

Process Study. It was a study of upper ocean microbial
biogeochemistry in the Arabian Sea in 1994. Its focus was
carbon and nitrogen cycling processes linked to climate
change.

The „ASEER („orth Arabian Sea Environment and Ecosystem

Research) Program of Pakistan has started in 2001.
 Differences between western and eastern parts of the Indian Ocean

ARABIA„ SEA BAY OF BE„GAL

weak strong P-E > 0

P-E < 0
convective convective
activity activity

weak near- strong near-

cool warm
surface surface
SST SST
stratification stratification

strong mixing and upwelling weak mixing and upwelling

strong winds (Findlater Jet) weak winds

ITCZ: Intertropical Convergence Zone
 Seasonal changes: The Indian Ocean Monsoons

( The word ³monsoon´ is derived from an

Arabic word meaning winds that change
with the seasons.

( During the hot summer months, India is

overtaken by a humid flow from the
È

southwest that brings extensive
cloudiness and impressive amounts of
precipitation.

( This southerly monsoon (i.e., winds from


the south) is caused by the heating of the
Asian land mass in summer. The land
heats the air above it, causing the air to
rise, and consequently drawing air inland

from the oceans to replace the rising air.



  


Chlorophyll „

  
 
By October, the Sun is well into its
southerly winter decline and the
Asian land mass cools rapidly
during the longer nights.

The air over the Asian continent

cools and sinks, and the warm,
moist southerly monsoon is
replaced by a dryer and cooler flow
from the north, descending from the
slopes of the Himalayas.

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Chlorophyll „ 

  
Due to intensive switch in
seasonal monsoons, there
is no constant subtropical
gyre in the northern Indian
Ocean.

The thickness of the lines

indicate the relative
intensities of the flows.
Major components of the
circulation system are the
„EC, ECC, and SEC.

The most spectacular

seasonal change is the
reversal of the Somali
Current (see January
versus July)
 Ocean circulation during
Southwest (summer)
monsoon (June-Sept)

SC-somali current;

SWC-southwest monsoon
current;

GW-great whirl;

SG-southern gyre

During the SW monsoon the westward flowing Southern Equatorial Current feeds the Somali Current (SC) which then
flows northward with speeds up to 200 cm/s and turning offshore at 2 -3 deg. S.

The SC develops two anticyclonic gyres, the Great Whirl (GW) (centered at about 8 deg. „) and the Southern Gyre (SG)
located in the area 0 - 5 deg. „, 53 deg. E.
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During the „E monsoon there is a strong Somali Current (SC)

off the northeast African coast which feeds the SECC
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In the southern part of the Indian Ocean,
during the SW monsoon the Agulhas
Current (AC) is even more powerful than
the Somali Current.

AC is second only after Gulf Stream in its

volume transport. Off the tip of South Africa
the AC loops back on itself, forming a
feature known as the ³Agulhas
retroflection´, which is the region of high
packed eddies of high biological
productivity.

Most of these eddies are injected into the

Benguela Current in the Atlantic Ocean.
Eddies are highly energetic and are thought
to have life-spans of many years.
 Salinity and water masses

Arabian Sea subsurface waters are composed

of Red Sea and Gulf of Oman outflow waters,
that spread slowly southward at a depth of ±
600 m and eventually mix with other water
masses.

Bottom waters enter the Somali Basin from the

south. Part of this water probably leaves the
basin in the north, to become part of a south-
westward flow.
 In order to identify the water mass, a set
of measurements of temperature and
salinity for successive depths at a given
location should be plotted.

This T-S% diagram depicts the

difference between
the mean offshore water mass (shown
in the figure in grey)
and coastally upwelled water mass (in
black) during Southwest Monsoon.

Overall, three basic kinds of water

masses can be distinguished in the
Indian Ocean: those that are generated
within the open ocean by subduction,
those that are mixing products of other

 
masses, and those that enter from
outside.
 The most powerful current feature in the Arabian Sea
during the Southwest Monsoon is an extension of
the northward flowing Somali Current and Oman
Coastal Current.

At Ras Al Hadd, this current veers off the coast into

the Arabian Sea, forming the Ras Al Hadd jet (also
termed the Ras Al Hadd Front).

As the Southwest Monsoon peaks in intensity

through the month of August, it significantly
enhances the strength of the northward-flowing
coastal current and the Ras al Hadd Jet extending
into the Arabian Sea.

During the period that the jet exists, it creates a twin,

or dipole, gyre system. The jet forms a large
anticyclonic eddy.

„orth of the Ras al Hadd jet, a cyclonic eddy forms,

and this eddy contains higher concentrations of
nutrients and phytoplankton.

Late in the monsoon season, a third smaller eddy

forms near the coast, forming a "tripole" circulation
pattern.

Oman Coastal Current: As the Ras Al Hadd Jet collapses, eddies drift to the
south.

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One of the most intriguing phenomena of Arabian Sea is its a


   
 
   

At a time when the net surface heat flux is at a maximum and is directed into the ocean, the
Arabian Sea experiences a rapid heat loss due to the export of heat via the strong
southeastward Ekman transport.

Since the Ekman transport is large, carries the warmest water, and reverses seasonally, it
can potentially reverse the sign of the seasonal heat transport of the Arabian Sea.
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Since 2005, the system provides (in real

time) every hour for 365 days turbidity,
oxygen, conductivity, temperature,
density, current speed and direction,
from the depth of 65 to 1100m.

Cable system extends 50km into the sea

from the Shinas coast. Plus, three
deepwater current meter moorings off
Rass al Hadd.
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 The development of the
cold eddy in the Sea of
Oman

The high chlorophyll „concentration patch

was about 100km in diameter.

The life time of this patch was about 3 weeks.

The cold eddy has a cyclonic circulation

caused by the wind stress which inputs
vorticity to the eddy region.
 Eddies of the Somali coast

Formation of the Great Whirl and other eddies due to bifurcation of the „orthern Equatorial Current.

 8|
Other factors affecting physical-chemical variability: The dust storms

The Arabian Sea blooms are

supported by supplemental
input of horizontally
advected iron transported
from the Arabian peninsula
in the form of the mineral
dust

SeaWiFS captured this dust

cloud blowing out over Oman

(in March)
This image shows the scale of the dust storms
taking place in the Arabian Sea region
 Trends of global
change
in the ocean


  
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Trends of global warming in
the World Ocean
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In terms of heat balance,

the Indian Ocean
(in particular the Arabian
Sea) both exhibited
minimal
increase in heat content
during the past 40 years.
 Interannual Changes

70 years of global warming: Photograph of the melting Pindari

glacier in the Himalayas.

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Time plot of the spatially averaged sea surface temperature (SST) over
the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean for the period 1951 through
1998. The dashed line denotes the linear trend.

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 Interannual Changes

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Zonal Wind Stress 0.09

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0.6

Zonal Wind Stress (N m

0.04
0.4
Chlorophyll

0.2 -0.01

0.0 -0.06
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
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a n d zo n a l in d s t r e s s in t h e o s h o r e e s t e r n Ar a bia n
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 Interannual variability: The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)

Schematic diagram of SST anomalies. White patches indicate increased convective activity. Arrows indicate wind
direction. Red shading- warming; blue shading cooling.

Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is a coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon in the Indian Ocean. It is normally
characterized by anomalous cooling of SST in the south eastern equatorial Indian Ocean and anomalous warming
of SST in the western equatorial Indian Ocean.

Associated with these changes the normal convection situated over the eastern Indian Ocean warm pool shifts to
the west and brings heavy rainfall over the east Africa and severe droughts/forest fires over the Indonesian region.
 Climatic Changes

Global warming will reduce snow and ice cover on the Tibetan
Plateau, the starting point of the monsoon system of this region and
south Asia.

Less ice and snow leads to increased winds during the SW

Monsoon, causing

Ɣ more vigorous upwelling,

Ɣ increased deposition on the seabed,

Ɣ changes of surface plankton that marine life feed on, including the
food that commercially viable yellowfin tuna, billfish, and large squid
like best.

 
 Tropical cyclones (hurricanes).
  
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The track of Gonu and sea surface temperature change

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