Indian_Ocean.docx - 1.1 Northern Indian Ocean Northern...

1.1
Northern Indian Ocean
Northern Indian ocean lies in the tropics and is land locked on the northern side. Northern
Indian ocean experiences the semi-annually reversing monsoon winds blowing from northeast
during December- April and from southwest during June-September. The surface winds are
consistent in their direction during these period and are famously known as the Northeast
monsoon and Southwest monsoon. There are also exist inter-monsoon periods in between the
monsoons, characterized by weak and variable winds, intense summer heating in May and mild
heating during October.
The sea bottom slopes up towards the north and merges with the continental shelf. The
Indian peninsula divides the north Indian Ocean into the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. Though
these marginal seas occupy the same latitudinal range, the water characteristic exhibit wide
differences, which bring both the oceanographers and meteorologist to a common platform of
understanding the monsoons, their response on these marginal seas in respect of climatic
variability and living resources for the benefit of people. These marginal seas are forced by the
above wind systems, solar heating owing to the lower latitude, the immense evaporation,
precipitation, particularly during the southwest monsoon period, and the huge river run off,
particularly in the Bay of Bengal. The circulation, especially in the equatorial region, differs
markedly from the other two oceans. The Arabian Sea is connected to the warm and highly saline
waters of the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.
1.2
Southern Indian Ocean
The characteristics of the south Indian Ocean are similar to those of the south Atlantic
and south Pasific. These three oceanic regions are interconnected at the polar latitudes and form
the southern ocean, the circulation of the south Indian Ocean encompasses a large subtropical
gyre with an intense western boundary current off the Agulhas coast, generally known as the

Agulhas Current. The south Indian Ocean is connected to the Pasific Ocean at the low latitudes
an d also at the higher southern latitudes, south of Australia. It is connected to the southern
Atlantic Ocean at higher southern latitudes and is known to effect the circulation of the Benguela
Current off the South African coast. Southwest monsoon during June to October and tropical
cyclones occur during May/June and October/November in the northern Indian Ocean and
January/February in the southern Indian Ocean.