Hydrographische Beobachtungen im Arabischen Meer während der Zeit des Nordostmonsuns 1964/65

Abstract

In this paper the sections for temperature and salinity are presented, which were obtained during the cruise of R. V. "Meteor" in the Indian Ocean (1964/65). The hydrographic observations in the Arabian Sea, had the aim to provide information on the influence of the NE-monsoon on the distribution of salinity and temperature off the east coast of Africa and off the west coast of India. Special attention was given to the spreading of highly saline water from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The track of the expedition was layed out according to these plans and is presented in figure 1. The data were collected by means of hydrographic casts with newly developed water bottles, and by means of "in-situ" measurements with the "bathysonde", an instrument for the continuous recording of electrical conductivity, temperature and pressure. This paper only deals with the data of the casts which are presented in a special publication together with the chemical data. The hydrographic conditions off the east coast of Africa are characterised by a rather complicated distribution of salinity within the first 1000 m of depth with several intermediate maxima and minima (hydrographic sections III-IX). This is due to the spreading of highly saline water mainly from the Red Sea, which can be traced southwards at least as far as 4° N (figure 9). Similar complicated conditions were found off the west coast of India (sections XI-XVI). Here the cause can be traced back to watermasses from the Persian Gulf. In depths below 2 000 m the TS-relation is virtually the same at both sides of the Arabian Sea