TY - JOUR

T1 - Injection of oxygenated Persian Gulf Water into the southern Bay of Bengal

AU - Sheehan, Peter M F

AU - Webber, Ben G M

AU - Sanchez-Franks, Alejandra

AU - Matthews, Adrian J

AU - Heywood, Karen J

AU - Vinayachandran, P N

PY - 2020/7/28

Y1 - 2020/7/28

N2 - Persian Gulf Water (PGW) is an oxygenated, high-salinity water mass that has recently been detected in the Bay of Bengal (BoB). However, little is known about the transport pathways of PGW into the BoB. Ocean glider observations presented here demonstrate the presence of PGW in the southwestern BoB. Output from an ocean reanalysis product shows that this PGW signal is associated with a northward-flowing filament of high-salinity water. Particle tracking experiments reveal two pathways: one in the eastern Arabian Sea that takes a minimum of 2 years and another in the western Arabian Sea that takes a minimum of 3 years. The western pathway connects to the BoB via equatorial currents. The greatest influx of PGW occurs between 82° and 87°E during the southwest monsoon. We propose that injection of PGW to the BoB oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) contributes to keeping oxygen concentrations in the BoB above the level at which denitrification occurs.

AB - Persian Gulf Water (PGW) is an oxygenated, high-salinity water mass that has recently been detected in the Bay of Bengal (BoB). However, little is known about the transport pathways of PGW into the BoB. Ocean glider observations presented here demonstrate the presence of PGW in the southwestern BoB. Output from an ocean reanalysis product shows that this PGW signal is associated with a northward-flowing filament of high-salinity water. Particle tracking experiments reveal two pathways: one in the eastern Arabian Sea that takes a minimum of 2 years and another in the western Arabian Sea that takes a minimum of 3 years. The western pathway connects to the BoB via equatorial currents. The greatest influx of PGW occurs between 82° and 87°E during the southwest monsoon. We propose that injection of PGW to the BoB oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) contributes to keeping oxygen concentrations in the BoB above the level at which denitrification occurs.

KW - Bay of Bengal

KW - Persian Gulf

KW - ocean gliders

KW - oxygen-minimum zones

KW - particle tracking

KW - water masses

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088571283&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1029/2020GL087773

DO - 10.1029/2020GL087773

M3 - Article

VL - 47

JO - Geophysical Research Letters

JF - Geophysical Research Letters

SN - 0094-8276

IS - 14

M1 - e2020GL087773

ER -