Surface circulation and upwelling patterns around Sri Lanka

Vos, Asha de; Pattiaratchi, Charitha; Wijeratne, Sarath

doi:10.5194/bg-11-5909-2014

Cited by 100 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…3). The surface current reverses its direction twice a year, in agreement with previous studies (Yu et al, 1991;McCreary et al, 1996;Shetye et al, 1996; Vinay- achandran and Yamagata, 1997; Vinayachandran et al, 1999;Eigenheer and Quadfasel, 2000;Durand et al, 2009;de Vos et al, 2014;Wijesekera et al, 2015;Lee et al, 2016). The mean meridional surface current is northward during boreal spring (Figs.…”

Section: Surface Circulationsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Some of the recirculations appear seasonally, such as the Sri Lanka Dome (SLD), a cyclonic eddy that is well developed in July (Vinayachandran and Yamagata, 1997). The SLD is driven by Rossby waves radiating from the eastern boundary and intensified Ekman pumping inside the BoB (Vinayachandran et al, 1999;Shankar et al, 2002;de Vos et al, 2014). The SLD propagates westward (Wijesekera et al, 2016b) toward the east coast of Sri Lanka, resulting in a southward coastal surface flow during early summer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An undercurrent off the east coast of Sri Lanka

et al. 2017

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Abstract. The existence of a seasonally varying undercurrent along 8 • N off the east coast of Sri Lanka is inferred from shipboard hydrography, Argo floats, glider measurements, and two ocean general circulation model simulations. Together, they reveal an undercurrent below 100-200 m flowing in the opposite direction to the surface current, which is most pronounced during boreal spring and summer and switches direction between these two seasons. The volume transport of the undercurrent (200-1000 m layer) can be more than 10 Sv in either direction, exceeding the transport of 1-6 Sv carried by the surface current (0-200 m layer). The undercurrent transports relatively fresher water southward during spring, while it advects more saline water northward along the east coast of Sri Lanka during summer. Although the undercurrent is potentially a pathway of salt exchange between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, the observations and the ocean general circulation models suggest that the salinity contrast between seasons and between the boundary current and interior is less than 0.09 in the subsurface layer, suggesting a small salt transport by the undercurrent of less than 4 % of the salinity deficit in the Bay of Bengal.

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Section: Surface Circulationsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An undercurrent off the east coast of Sri Lanka

et al. 2017

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“…Upwelling in the NIO is strongly influenced by seasonally reversing monsoon winds that can be divided into four periods: Northeast Monsoon (December-April), first inter-monsoon (May), Southwest Monsoon (June-October), and second inter-monsoon (November) (Tomczak & Godfrey, 2005). Upwelling is generally weaker and more localized during the Northeast Monsoon (Schott & McCreary, 2001;de Vos et al, 2014a). Consequently, we expect lower SST, higher SSS, and lower SSH in these regions.…”

Section: Blue Whale Ecology and Datamentioning

confidence: 82%

Predicting cetacean distributions in data‐poor marine ecosystems

Redfern

Moore

Fiedler

et al. 2017

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim Human activities are creating conservation challenges for cetaceans. Spatially explicit risk assessments can be used to address these challenges, but require species distribution data, which are limited for many cetacean species. This study explores methods to overcome this limitation. Blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) are used as a case study because they are an example of a species that have well-defined habitat and are subject to anthropogenic threats.Location Eastern Pacific Ocean, including the California Current (CC) and eastern tropical Pacific (ETP), and northern Indian Ocean (NIO).Methods We used 12 years of survey data (377 blue whale sightings and c. 225,400 km of effort) collected in the CC and ETP to assess the transferability of blue whale habitat models. We used the models built with CC and ETP data to create predictions of blue whale distributions in the data-poor NIO because key aspects of blue whale ecology are expected to be similar in these ecosystems. Results We found that the ecosystem-specific blue whale models performed well in their respective ecosystems, but were not transferable. For example, models built with CC data could accurately predict distributions in the CC, but could not accurately predict distributions in the ETP. However, the accuracy of models built with combined CC and ETP data was similar to the accuracy of the ecosystem-specific models in both ecosystems. Our predictions of blue whale habitat in the NIO from the models built with combined CC and ETP data compare favourably to hypotheses about NIO blue whale distributions, provide new insights into blue whale habitat, and can be used to prioritize research and monitoring efforts.Main conclusions Predicting cetacean distributions in data-poor ecosystems using habitat models built with data from multiple ecosystems is potentially a powerful marine conservation tool and should be examined for other species and regions.

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“…Currents in the Indian Ocean around Sri Lanka are influenced by the effect of water movement caused by monsoonal winds. During the southwest monsoon, the eastward flowing Southwest Monsoon Current (SMC), and during the northeast monsoon the westward flowing Northeast Monsoon Current (NMC) operate in the sea around Sri Lanka (de Vos et al, 2014). Throughout both monsoon periods, these oceanic currents move southwards along both the eastern and western coasts and converge along the island's southern coast.…”

Section: Potential Climatic and Anthropogenic Influences On The Biogementioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the SW monsoon, the island deflects the eastward flowing SMC southward, whilst along the eastern coast the southward flow results from the Sri Lanka Dome. The Sri Lanka Dome (SLD) is an upwelling recirculation feature found in the Southwest Monsoon Current that may significantly influence both biological productivity and air-sea interactions in the Bay of Bengal (de Vos et al, 2014). The large-scale oceanic currents around Sri Lanka therefore undergo complete seasonal reversals.…”

Section: Potential Climatic and Anthropogenic Influences On The Biogementioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological biogeography of mangroves in Sri Lanka

Amarasinghe

Perera

2017

Ceylon J. Sci.

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Abstract:The relatively low extent of mangroves in Sri Lanka supports 23 true mangrove plant species. In the last few decades, more plant species that naturally occur in terrestrial and freshwater habitats are observed in mangrove areas in Sri Lanka. Increasing freshwater input to estuaries and lagoons through upstream irrigation works and altered rainfall regimes appear to have changed their species composition and distribution. This will alter the vegetation structure, processes and functions of mangrove ecosystems in Sri Lanka. The geographical distribution of mangrove plant taxa in the micro-tidal coastal areas of Sri Lanka is investigated to have an insight into the climatic and anthropogenic factors that can potentially influence the ecological biogeography of mangroves and sustainability of these mangrove ecosystems.

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Surface circulation and upwelling patterns around Sri Lanka

Cited by 100 publications

References 43 publications

An undercurrent off the east coast of Sri Lanka

An undercurrent off the east coast of Sri Lanka

Predicting cetacean distributions in data‐poor marine ecosystems

Ecological biogeography of mangroves in Sri Lanka

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