Watermass modification in the upper layers Of the Arabian Sea during ISMEX-73

Abstract

The intra-seasonal variability noticed in the thermohaline characteristics in the upper layers of the Arabian Sea during the summer monsoon season of 1973 is described with the aid of repeat transects made by USSR and Indian ships along some typical zonal and meridional sections covered during the pre and post onset regimes of Indo-Soviet Monsoon Experiment (ISMEX-73).  An attempt is made to compare this observed variability during the summer monsoon seasons of 1971, 1972 and 1973 with the limited available data sets. The observed short-term variability during the pre and post onset regimes at one station (60^OE) on the equator and another station    (18^O N, 67^O E) in the northeastern Arabian Sea is described and discussed to highlight the uneven response of the Arabian s\Sea in its spatial domain to the variable seasonal monsoonal forcing.