Abstract
The characteristics of the T/S structures, water mass exchange and deep circulation in the Andaman Sea are investigated based on the simulation from a high-resolution general circulation model (MITgcm). The results show that, below 1 000 m, the water mass is saltier, warmer and more homogeneous in the Andaman Sea than that in the Bay of Bengal, attributing to the strong vertical mixing at the depth of ∼1 800 m. The water mass exchange between the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal goes through three major channels, which manifests itself as follows: the northern channel (Preparis Channel) is the main passage of water mass transport from the Bay of Bengal to the Andaman Sea, whereas the Middle Channel (the south of Andaman Islands and the north of Nicobar Islands) has an opposite transport; the southern channel (Great Channel) features with a four-layer water exchange which results in the least net transport among the three channels; all the transports through the three channels have an intra-annual variation with a period of half a year. At 1 000-m depth, the entire Andaman Sea is occupied by a cyclonic circulation in January and July while by an anticyclonic one in April and October. The semiannual cycle found in both the deep circulation and water mass exchange is likely associated with the downwelling eastward-propagating Kelvin waves induced by the semiannual westerly component in the equatorial Indian Ocean during intermonsoon seasons.
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Foundation item: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41931182, 41521005 and 41676016; Guangdong Key Project under contract No. 2019BT2H594; the Key Special Project for Introduced Talents Team of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) under contract Nos GML2019ZD0303 and GML2019ZD0304; the Chinese Academy of Sciences under contract Nos ZDRW-XH-2019-2 and ISEE2018PY05; the Independent Research Project Program of State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography under contract Nos LTOZZ1902 and LTOZZ1802.
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Liao, J., Peng, S. & Wen, X. On the heat budget and water mass exchange in the Andaman Sea. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 39, 32–41 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-019-1627-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-019-1627-8