Publication Date:
2019-04-23
Description:
A yearlong record from moored current, temperature, conductivity, and four mixing meters (χpods) in the northernmost international waters of the Bay of Bengal quantifies upper-ocean turbulent diffusivity of heat (Kt) and its response to the Indian monsoon. Data indicate (1) pronounced intermittency in turbulence at semidiurnal, diurnal, and near-inertial timescales, (2) strong turbulence above 25-m depth during the SW (summer) and NE (winter) monsoon relative to the transition periods (compare Kt 〉 10−4 m2/s to Kt ∼ 10−5 m2/s, and (3) persistent suppression of turbulence (Kt 〈 10−5 m2/s) for 3 to 5 months in the latter half of the SW monsoon coincident with enhanced near-surface stratification postarrival of low-salinity water from the Brahmaputra-Ganga-Meghna delta and monsoonal precipitation. This suppression promotes maintenance of the low-salinity surface waters within the interior of the bay preconditioning the upper northern Indian Ocean for the next year's monsoon. ©2019. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
Print ISSN:
0094-8276
Electronic ISSN:
1944-8007
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
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