• Login
    About WHOAS
    View Item 
    •   WHOAS Home
    • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
    • Physical Oceanography (PO)
    • View Item
    •   WHOAS Home
    • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
    • Physical Oceanography (PO)
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of WHOASCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesKeywordsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesKeywords

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Effects of freshwater stratification on nutrients, dissolved oxygen, and phytoplankton in the Bay of Bengal

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    29-2_sarma.pdf (3.199Mb)
    Date
    2016-06
    Author
    Sarma, V. V. S. S.  Concept link
    Rao, G. S.  Concept link
    Viswanadham, R.  Concept link
    Sherin, C. K.  Concept link
    Salisbury, Joseph E.  Concept link
    Omand, Melissa M.  Concept link
    Mahadevan, Amala  Concept link
    Murty, V. S. N.  Concept link
    Shroyer, Emily L.  Concept link
    Baumgartner, Mark F.  Concept link
    Stafford, Kathleen M.  Concept link
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/8305
    As published
    https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2016.54
    DOI
    10.5670/oceanog.2016.54
    Abstract
    The Bay of Bengal (BoB) is strongly density stratified due to large freshwater input from various rivers and heavy precipitation. This strong vertical stratification, along with physical processes, regulates the transport and vertical exchange of surface and subsurface water, concentrating nutrients and intensifying the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ). Here, we use basinwide measurements to describe the spatial distributions of nutrients, oxygen, and phytoplankton within the BoB during the 2013 northeast monsoon (November–December). By the time riverine water reaches the interior bay, it is depleted in the nutrients nitrate and phosphate, but not silicate. Layering of freshwater in the northern BoB depresses isopycnals, leading to a deepening of the nutricline and oxycline. Oxygen concentrations in the OMZ are lowest in the north (<5 µM). Weak along-isopycnal nutrient gradients reflect along-isopycnal stirring between ventilated surface water and deep nutrient-replenished water. Picoplankton dominate the phytoplankton population in the north, presumably outcompeting larger phytoplankton species due to their low nutrient requirements. Micro- and nanoplankton numbers are enhanced in regions with deeper mixed layers and weaker stratification, where nutrient replenishment from subsurface waters is more feasible. These are also the regions where marine mammals were sighted. Physical processes and the temperature-salinity structure in the BoB directly influence the OMZ and the depth of the oxycline and nutricline, thereby affecting the phytoplankton and marine mammal communities.
    Description
    Author Posting. © The Oceanography Society, 2016. This article is posted here by permission of The Oceanography Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Oceanography 29, no. 2 (2016): 222–231, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2016.54.
    Collections
    • Physical Oceanography (PO)
    • Biology
    Suggested Citation
    Oceanography 29, no. 2 (2016): 222–231
     
    All Items in WHOAS are protected by original copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. WHOAS also supports the use of the Creative Commons licenses for original content.
    A service of the MBLWHOI Library | About WHOAS
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | Privacy Policy
    Core Trust Logo