| Description |
The Bay of Bengal is a tropical ecosystem in a monsoon belt, bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean and surrounded to the north by the Asian continent, with India to the west, Bangladesh to the north, and Burma to the east. Sri Lanka is at the southwestern corner, and Malaysia is at the southeastern. Major rivers drain 200 km3 of water and introduce 12x109 tons of silt during the monsoon season (July through September in India, with similar patterns in Bangladesh and Burma), strongly influencing the dynamics of the ecosystem resulting in silting in harbors and creation of sand bars near river mouths. The surface circulation is characterized by a large cyclonic gyre, influenced by monsoon currents, surrounded by anticyclonic cells influenced by fresh water. (Dwivedi, 1993; Murty et al., 1990) Monsoon waters have a strong influence on the dynamics of the Bay, producing a warm, low-salinity, nutrient-rich, oxygen rich layer to 100 m depth, approximately 1500 km from the northern portion of the Bay where the rivers enter the sea. At depth (200m and 500 m), high salinity, low temperature, low-oxygen waters persist through the year. (Suryanarayana, 1988; Dwivedi, 1993) Upwelling is greatest in the central portion. (Suryanarayana, 1988) Small coastal subsystems include wetlands, mangroves, and backwaters, all important in productivity (http://www.na.nmfs.gov/lme/text/lme34.htm). |
