Water Masses and General Hydrography along the West Coast of India during early March

Abstract

Structure of water masses along the west coast of India from Bombay to Trivandrum has been studied through vertical sections of temperature, salinity and density during 3-17 March 1977. The Arabian Sea high salinity water spreads south as a core along the coast at an average depth of 90 m. Influence of the Persian Gulf water in the southern part is found less significant. The northern limit of the Red Sea water is 17 degrees N. Low saline waters ( 35.2 ppt) intrude into the southeastern Arabian Sea from the equator around 200 m. Off the Kerala Coast, low saline waters ( 34.5 ppt) occupy the shelf area. A transition zone between 13 degrees and 16 degrees N separates surface waters of low temperature and high salinity in the north from the surface waters of high temperature and low salinity in the south. Sigma-t surfaces generally slope down towards south indicating very weak onshore flow in the upper layers