Deep-Sea Research I 47 (2000) 859}873

E!ect of vertical stability and circulation on the

depth of the chlorophyll maximum in the Bay of
Bengal during May}June, 1996
V.S.N. Murty!,*, G.V.M. Gupta", V.V. Sarma", B.P. Rao",
D. Jyothi", P.N.M. Shastri", Y. Supraveena"
!National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403 004, India
"National Institute of Oceanography, Regional Centre, 176 Lawson's Bay Colony, Visakhapatnam 530 017, India
Received 29 July 1998; received in revised form 16 March 1999; accepted 29 June 1999

Abstract
A two-gyre circulation system consisting of an anticyclonic gyre (ACG) in the northwestern Bay of Bengal and a cyclonic gyre (CG) west of the Andaman Islands is shown by the
hydrographic data collected during May}June, prior to the southwest monsoon of 1996. This
circulation system leads to an intense southwestward #ow in the central Bay. The circulation
pattern characterizes the transition from the pre-monsoon (spring season) ACG to the southwest monsoon CG. A deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) is found in the depth range 30}50 m
in the coastal region and 50}100 m in the open sea. The DCM is located below the surface
mixed layer, in the oxycline and nutricline, and above the seasonal thermocline/pycnocline,
which coincides with the deep stability maximum (DSM). In the ACG, the DCM is located at
100 m when DSM is at 140 m deep, whereas in the CG, the DCM and DSM rise to 50 and 80 m,
respectively. The magnitude of the chlorophyll maximum (CMAX) is nearly twice as high in the
CG zone as in the ACG zone. The depths of both DCM and DSM, however, are twice as large
in the ACG zone as in the CG zone. This shows that the meso-scale circulation patterns a!ect
the spatial distribution of chlorophyll a (both DCM and CMAX) in the Bay of Bengal. ( 2000
Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) is a widely documented feature of the
subtropical (Kiefer and Kremer, 1981; Cullen and Eppley, 1981; Fasham et al., 1985)
* Corresponding author. Fax: 0091-832-223-340.
E-mail address: vsnmurthy@csnio.ren.nic.in (V.S.N. Murty)
0967-0637/00/$ - see front matter ( 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 6 7 - 0 6 3 7 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 7 1 - 0

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V.S.N. Murty et al. / Deep-Sea Research I 47 (2000) 859}873

and tropical oceans. In the tropical north Indian Ocean, the existence of a DCM has
been reported in the Arabian Sea (Banse, 1994; Bhattathiri et al., 1996) and in the Bay
of Bengal (Radhakrishna et al., 1982; Sarma and Kumar, 1991). A subsurface maximum of biogenic silica, representing a diatom population, has also been reported
recently in the Bay of Bengal (Gupta and Sarma, 1997; Gupta, 1998). These researchers related the occurrence of the DCM to the high nutrient turnover in the
subsurface layers and its depth variation corresponding to the depth of the thermocline and nutrient regeneration. Pingree et al. (1978) point out that the phytoplankton
would tend to settle in the stable zone of the seasonal thermocline rather than in the
weakly strati"ed surface mixed layer. The studies of Fasham et al. (1985) and Catalano
et al. (1997) indicate that the water column vertical stability is a potential factor
controlling the phytoplankton distribution and hence the primary production in the
ocean. Banse (1987) relates the DCM to atmospheric conditions (clouds and winds)
and the mixed layer depth. Varela et al. (1992) studied the processes determining the
existence of the DCM using a coupled physical}biological model. Their model study
emphasizes the importance of the physical conditions for the depth variations of the
DCM, while the concentrations of the DCM are controlled by the biological and
nutrient #uxes. In the case of Bay of Bengal, the physical conditions undergo drastic
changes with the season due to prevailing southwest and northeast monsoons with
transitions in between. The Bay also receives huge amounts of fresh water from the
major rivers (Wyrtki, 1971; Varkey et al., 1996) and a net heat #ux from the
atmosphere (Hastenrath and Lamb, 1979). The surface winds are weak and variable,
fresh water in#ux is minimal and sea surface heat gain is large during the premonsoon (spring) season (March}May).
The seasonal variability in the meso-scale circulation under the in#uence of fresh
water in#ux, monsoons and the remote forcing from the equatorial Indian Ocean
has also been documented recently (Murty et al., 1992,1993; Shetye et al., 1993;
Suryanarayana et al., 1993; McCreary et al., 1993; Sanilkumar et al., 1997). However,
studies during the transition period prior to the southwest monsoon, i.e., May}June
have not been carried out so far. Further, the e!ect of meso-scale processes on the
distribution of chlorophyll and the related parameters in the Bay of Bengal is not yet
known.
It is in this context that a multi-disciplinary oceanographic survey was undertaken
by the authors to address the spatial variability of the DCM in relation to the vertical
stability and meso-scale circulation processes in the Bay of Bengal during the transition period (May}June) prior to the southwest monsoon of 1996.

2. Data and methodology

This study was based on data collected from 53 hydrographic stations in the Bay of
Bengal during 23 May}21 June, 1996 onboard ORV Sagar Kanya. The stations (Fig. 1)
were occupied along 883E (from 213 to 43N), along 11.53N (from 813 to 923E), along
a NW}SE transect across the central Bay, and along shorter transects on the shelf in
the northwestern Bay.

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861

Fig. 1. Study area showing the hydrographic stations. The observations were carried out from north to
south and ended back in the north. The advancement of the southwest monsoon began from the south Bay
and covered the central Bay during the observational period (23 May}21 June 1996).

The southwest monsoon had set in over the southern Bay at the beginning of
the survey (which started from the north) and advanced towards the northern Bay
(Anon, 1996) as the survey progressed (Fig. 1). This suggests that the present data set
would describe the oceanic conditions of the transition period, prior to the southwest
monsoon.
Hydrographic data in the upper 3000 m was collected using a CTD (Model
SBE9/11 Plus, Sea Bird Electronics, USA). The Practical Salinity Scale (PSS-78) has
been incorporated in the SEASOFT software for converting the CTD measured
conductivity to salinity. Chlorophyll a (Chl a) was measured by an in situ #uorometer
(Chelsea Instruments, USA) attached to the CTD. Chl a was also determined at seven
open-sea stations at various depths (surface, 10, 30, 50, 75, 100 and 150 m) using acidprecleaned Niskin bottles of 5 l capacity mounted on the CTD. Samples were immediately "ltered onto Whatman GF/F glass "bre "lters and were extracted in 10 ml of
90% acetone for 12 h and measured spectrophotometrically (Strickland and Parsons,
1968). The results, corrected for phaeopigments, were used to calibrate the #uorometer (Fig. 2). Fig. 2 shows a cluster of points at low concentration, below 0.04 mg
m~3, and 20 data points show chlorophyll concentrations above 0.04 mg m~3 with
a linear variation. These 20 data points cover the depths from 50 to 100 m, and the rest
of the data points cover the upper 50 m and below 100 m. The cluster of low
concentrations may a!ect the con"dence levels of the calibration to some extent. We
assume that the level of uncertainty would not be more than twice the cluster

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V.S.N. Murty et al. / Deep-Sea Research I 47 (2000) 859}873

Fig. 2. Chlorophyll calibration curve for the Chelsea #uorometer data with spectrophotometer data.

concentration, i.e., 0.08 mg m~3. Water samples for the analysis of dissolved oxygen
(DO) and nutrients were also drawn from the same Niskin samplers (with additional
casts to 200 and 400 m). DO was estimated using the modi"ed Winkler method
(Carritt and Carpenter, 1966) and nutrients by the standard method (Grassho!, 1976).
Using the CTD data, dynamic heights were computed at each station relative to
1000 dB, and the geostrophic currents (relative velocities) between the station pairs
were obtained following Pond and Pickard (1983). In spite of the scant geographic
data coverage, reasonably good horizontal distribution maps of dynamic heights were
prepared using the MS-DOS SURFER contouring package with the minimum curvature method (with a maximum absolute error of 0.005 and maximum iterations of
1000). The static stability parameter (E) was computed using the FOFONOFF
adiabatic leveling method (Bray and Fofono!, 1981) that was incorporated in the
SEASOFT `BUOYANCY.EXEa programme (Anon, 1994).
3. Results and discussion
Abbreviations employed in the text are as follows:
ACG
anticyclonic gyre
ASHSW
Arabian sea high salinity watermass
CG
cyclonic gyre
Chl a
chlorophyll a
CMAX
magnitude of chlorophyll maximum

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DCM
DSM
D20
IMC
MLD

863

deep chlorophyll maximum

deep stability maximum
depth of 203C isotherm
Indian monsoon current
mixed layer depth

3.1. Upper layer circulation

The sea surface dynamic topography (Fig. 3a) shows that the surface circulation is
characterized by an anticyclonic gyre (ACG) centered at 153N, 873E in the northwestern Bay and a cyclonic gyre (CG) centered at 123N, 893E west of the Andaman
Islands. The variation of steric height is about 0.4 dyn m from the center of the ACG
to the center of the CG. The dynamic height 1.9 dyn m contour demarcates the ACG
from the CG. The CG is located between 133 and 83N, with the southwestward return
#ow of the ACG on its western side, and its northward #ow in the eastern Bay. The
dynamic height contours passing across the NW}SE transect indicate a strong
northeastward #ow near 173N, at the northern edge of the ACG. The existence of the
ACG in the northwestern Bay during pre-monsoon was documented earlier (Murty et
al., 1993; Babu et al., 1999). In the southern Bay, an eastward #ow is indicated. This
eastward #ow is the Indian Monsoon Current (IMC) that develops in the equatorial
region of the Indian Ocean (Cutler and Swallow, 1984; Molinari et al., 1990) under the
in#uence of prevailing strong westerly winds from May onwards. By the period of the
observations (end of May), the IMC appeared in the southern Bay at 883E, which is
also evident in the ship drift currents (directed eastward/northeastward) of Cutler and
Swallow (1984). The surface circulation is seen down to 100 m (Fig. 3b).

Fig. 3. Dynamic topography at sea surface (a) and 100 m (b) relative to 1000 dB. The meso-scale circulation
features reveal an anticyclonic gyre in the northwestern Bay and a cyclonic gyre west of the Andaman
Islands.

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V.S.N. Murty et al. / Deep-Sea Research I 47 (2000) 859}873

This two-gyre circulation system essentially indicates the prevalence of anticyclonic

circulation, characteristic of pre-monsoon (March}May), in the northwestern Bay
(Murty et al., 1993; Babu et al., 1999) and development of cyclonic #ow in the east
central Bay by June, with the advancement of the southwest monsoon over the Bay.
The present study shows that the ACG persists even up to May. The model studies of
Potemra et al. (1991), driven by the climatological winds, postulate a similar two-gyre
system during the transition prior to the southwest monsoon. They point out that the
CG west of the Andaman Islands grows large and occupies the Bay at the height of the
southwest monsoon, as supported by the "eld studies of Murty et al. (1992) and
Gopalakrishna et al. (1996) for this season. The computed baroclinic (relative) currents are weak at the surface and strongest at subsurface depths (&50 m) both in the
east}west and north}south currents across the sections (not shown). This observed
geostrophic current shear near the base of the surface mixed layer suggests the
dominant in#uence of ageostrophic motions associated with surface wind stress. The
thermohaline structures indicate that the surface mixed layer is deep (&50 m) in the
ACG zone between 123 and 193N along 883E section (Fig. 4a and b) and is shallow
(&30 m) in the CG zone between 863 and 923E along 11.53N section (Fig. 4c and d).
Further, the surface mixed layer in both ACG and CG zones is characterized by warm
(&303C) and less saline (&33.0) water (Fig. 4a and d). The high ('35.2) salinity cell
embedded in the depth range 100}150 m between 43 and 53N along 883E (Fig. 4b) is
identi"ed as the Arabian Sea High Salinity Watermass (ASHSW). It is reported earlier
that the ASHSW is advected via the IMC to the central Bay of Bengal at the height of
the southwest monsoon (Sastry et al., 1985; Murty et al., 1992; Gopalakrishna et al.,
1996). The layer of high salinity (&35.02) below 200 m forms part of the intermediate
high-salinity watermass of the Bay of Bengal (Varkey et al., 1996).
At a repeat station, 153N and 883E (stas. 12 and 40), it is noted that the depths of
surface mixed layer, thermocline, pycnocline, DCM, oxycline and nitracline decreased
by about 30 m within a period of 16 d. These observed changes are indicative of
an upward velocity of about 2 m day~1 (2]10~3 cm s~1) and supports the growth of
the CG northwestward (from 123N, 893E, the centre of the CG) with the advancement
of the monsoon (as postulated by Potemra et al., 1991). The estimated upward vertical
velocity is in the range of that estimated from the "eld of wind stress curl using
climatological winds (Hastenrath and Lamb, 1979) and instantaneous winds for the
monsoon months (Babu, 1987; Babu et al., 1989). The northwestward migration of the
CG also corroborates the numerical model of Cushman-Roisin et al. (1990), who
predicted a westward migration of the meso-scale eddies (both cyclonic and anticyclonic) in the upper ocean.
3.2. Stability structure
Along 883E, the distribution of static stability shows a weaker strati"cation in
the surface mixed layer (to 50 m) underlain by a deep stability maximum (DSM) with
a magnitude of 4000}6000]10~8 m~1 between 50 and 100 m (Fig. 5a). The contours
of the stability parameter show a dip to 400 m in the region of the ACG between 123
and 183N. Along 11.53N, the stability maximum (4000}6000]10~8 m~1) occurs

V.S.N. Murty et al. / Deep-Sea Research I 47 (2000) 859}873

865

Fig. 4. Vertical distributions of temperature (3C) and salinity along 883E (a and b, upper panels) and along
11.53N (c and d, lower panels).

between 30 and 120 m (Fig. 5b). The depth variation of the DSM follows the
pycnocline while its magnitude is a!ected by the strength of the thermocline (seasonal
pycnocline), which in turn governs the observed meso-scale circulation patterns (as
discussed above). The stability maximum and the associated vertical gradients suppress vertical mixing and act as a strong barrier for transfer across it.
3.3. Chlorophyll distribution
The vertical distribution of Chlorophyll a (Chl a) in the upper 200 m along the
sections exhibits low concentrations of chlorophyll in the surface mixed layer and

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V.S.N. Murty et al. / Deep-Sea Research I 47 (2000) 859}873

Fig. 5. Vertical distribution of static stability (10~8 m~1) along 883E (a) and along 11.53N (b) sections. The
magnitude of stability is large in the seasonal thermocline. The maximum stability zone (4000}6000]
10~8 m~1) undergoes depth variations in accordance with the meso-scale circulations.

Fig. 6. Vertical distribution of chlorophyll (mg m~3) in the upper 200 m along 883E (a) and 11.53N (b).
A subsurface chlorophyll maximum is noticeable in both sections, while its depth variations correspond to
the meso-scale circulations.

a deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) between 50 and 100 m (Fig. 6a and b). This is
further supported by the occurrence of a subsurface biogenic silica (diatoms) maximum observed in samples from the same cruise (Gupta, 1998). The magnitude of the
chlorophyll maximum (CMAX) in the DCM layer are about 10 times higher than
chlorophyll concentrations at the surface. The low concentrations of surface Chl a
indicate the lesser abundance of phytoplankton due to depletion of nutrients. However, the observed concentrations of chlorophyll in the present study are much lower
than those reported for the southwest monsoon (Radhakrishna et al., 1982; Devassy et
al., 1983; Sarma and Kumar, 1991), suggesting poor productivity during present study
period, which was characterized by low river run-o!. The reported higher counts of

V.S.N. Murty et al. / Deep-Sea Research I 47 (2000) 859}873

867

phytoplankton (associated with high pigment concentration) in the Bay of Bengal

during the southwest monsoon are due to high in#ux of fresh water together with
high concentrations of nutrients from the major and minor rivers along the surrounding land boundary. The recent study of Gupta (1998) also revealed seasonal
variations of nutrient concentrations, with a maximum during August (southwest
monsoon) and minimum during May}June (the present study), which also supports
the above view.
In all the sections, the DCM is located in the oxycline and nitracline which is
an essential feature of the typical tropical structure originally described by Herbland
and Voituriez (1979) in the Atlantic and recently by Madhupratap et al. (1996)
in the Arabian Sea. Along 883E, the DCM is located at 100 m in the south and shoals
gradually towards north to 65 m at 123N (Fig. 6a) under the in#uence of the CG.
North of 123N, the DCM deepens to 100 m at 163N under the in#uence of the ACG.
Along 11.53N, the DCM is located at 100 m depth west of 863E (Fig. 6b), where the
circulation is nearly zonal (westward, Fig. 3a) but, rises to 50 m depth east of 863E at
the center of the CG. These meso-scale circulation features also show a profound
in#uence on the magnitudes of the CMAX, which is low (0.1 mg m~3) in the ACG and
high (0.2 mg m~3) in the CG. The DCM and CMAX along the NW}SE transect vary
in accordance with the circulation features across this transect. A signi"cant negative
correlation (r2"!0.38) is observed between the CMAX and the depth of the
DCM at 51 stations (Fig. 7). Such a relationship in the Atlantic Ocean was reported
earlier (Herbland and Voituriez, 1979; Cox et al., 1982). However, the
deviation of the CMAX from a 1 : 1 relationship with the DCM layer and the negative
correlation imply a depth limitation on CMAX due to the decline of light irradiance
with depth.

Fig. 7. Scatter plot showing the relationship between ln(CMAX) and DCM. The regression line shows
negative relation and 1 : 1 deviation implies the depth limitation of CMAX due to decline of light irradiance
with depth.

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V.S.N. Murty et al. / Deep-Sea Research I 47 (2000) 859}873

3.4. Ewect of vertical stability on the distribution of chlorophyll

Vertical pro"les of temperature, salinity, Chl a and stability at two open-sea
stations at the centers of the CG (sta. 33) and the ACG (sta. 41) and also at coastal
stations are examined to assess the e!ect of vertical stability on the distribution of the
DCM. At the open-sea stations, shoaling of the thermocline and halocline (hence
pycnocline) is evident in the CG, and deepening is seen in the ACG (Fig. 8a and b).
The pro"les of Chl a (Fig. 8c) show that the DCM is deep in the ACG and shallow in
the CG. The sinking motion in the ACG (due to convergence at the surface) pushes the
DCM to 100 m, whereas, in the CG, due to divergence, the DCM is lifted to shallower
depth (70 m). The pro"les of stability (Fig. 8d) show two maxima } one in the halocline

Fig. 8. Comparison of vertical pro"les of temperature (a), salinity (b), Chlorophyll a (c), and stability (d) at
station 33 (located in the center of CG) and station 41 (located in the center of ACG). The CMAX is high
(low) while the DCM shoals (deepens) in the CG (ACG). Similarly, the magnitude of DSM is high (low) in
the CG (ACG) as the pycnocline rose (deepened) in the CG (ACG).

V.S.N. Murty et al. / Deep-Sea Research I 47 (2000) 859}873

869

(55 m in the ACG and 45 m in the CG) and the other in the deep seasonal thermocline/pycnocline (155 m in the ACG and 80 m in the CG). The depth of the seasonal
thermocline coincides with the depth of the deep stability maximum (DSM). This
further shows that the DCM is located above the depth of the DSM due to the
seasonal thermocline. It is also noted that the CMAX and DCM vary from open-sea
to coastal stations in the northwestern Bay. At the near-shore coastal stations (stas.
1 and 2, Fig. 1), the vertical distribution of Chl a shows the occurrence of one peak in
the halocline. At the o!shore stations (sta. 3, Fig. 1), two peaks of Chl a, one in the
halocline and the other in the thermocline, are noticed. At station 3, the vertical
distribution of stability also shows two maxima, one associated with the shallow
halocline and the other with the thermocline, and the magnitude of the shallow
stability maximum due to the halocline is large. At this station, the second maximum
in Chl a (the DCM) has higher concentrations at the depth of the relatively weak
stability maximum associated with the thermocline. This shows that the near surface
strati"cation due to the halocline has no in#uence on the DCM and suggests the
in#uence of vertical thermal di!usion on the DCM. This is in line with the coupled
model study of Varela et al. (1992), in which they considered the vertical eddy thermal
di!usivity in the physical model. Excluding the "ve stations from the northwestern
bay, where the DCM is located around the depth of the weak stability maximum
associated with the thermocline, a scatter plot was constructed between DCM and
DSM from the rest of the stations (Fig. 9). It shows a signi"cant positive correlation
(r2"0.59), consistent with previous studies in the tropical Indian Ocean (Karabashev
and Solov'yev, 1978) and at the subtropical Azores front (Fasham et al., 1985). It is
also evident from Fig. 9 that at most of the stations the DCM lies above the seasonal
pycnocline.

Fig. 9. Scatter plot showing the relationship between DCM and DSM. The line >"X indicates that the
DCM lies at shallower depth and above the depth of seasonal pycnocline.

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V.S.N. Murty et al. / Deep-Sea Research I 47 (2000) 859}873

3.5. Ewect of circulation on the distribution of chlorophyll

The e!ects of wind-induced turbulent mixing and the meso-scale circulation features on the depth of the DCM are examined through variations in the mixed layer
depth (MLD) and the depth of the 203C isotherm (D20). The MLD represents the
in#uence of turbulent wind mixing and the nature of vertical thermal di!usion. The
203C isotherm lies in the mid-thermocline, and its depth variation relates closely to
the circulation patterns. From Fig. 10, it is inferred that the DCM lies below the MLD
but above D20 and follows closely their oscillations along the sections. The DCM is
located 42 m below the MLD in the ACG while it is 36 m below in the CG. Further, it
is interesting to note that the DCM is located at or below the depth (&50 m) of strong
current shear at the base of mixed layer. It, however, lies above the DSM due to the
seasonal thermocline. This shows that the factors (wind stress curl, with the associated
Ekman pumping, and heat #ux at the sea surface) a!ecting the surface mixed layer,
seasonal thermocline and hence the meso-scale circulation could in#uence the DCM
in the Bay of Bengal.

4. Conclusions
The analysis of hydrographic data during the transition prior to the southwest
monsoon reveals two counterrotating gyres: (i) the ACG in the northwestern Bay and
(ii) the CG west of the Andaman Islands. This circulation system leads to a strong
southwestward #ow in the central Bay. The CG grew/migrated towards northwest
within a 16 day period as the southwest monsoon intensi"ed. Both the warmer (303C)
and lower salinity ((34.0) waters led to strong density strati"cation in the upper 50 m.
The DCM was located well below the MLD, in the zones of strong current shear,
oxycline and nutricline, but above the depth of the DSM coinciding with the seasonal
thermocline/pycnocline. The magnitude of the CMAX in the CG zone was nearly

Fig. 10. Variation of depths of mixed layer (v}v}v), chlorophyll maximum (L}L}L) and 203C isotherm
(j}j}j) along 883E (a) and 11.53N (b).

V.S.N. Murty et al. / Deep-Sea Research I 47 (2000) 859}873

871

twice that in the ACG zone. However, the depths of the DCM and DSM in the CG
zone were nearly half of those values in the ACG zone. Thus, the meso-scale
circulation features (ACG and CG) in the Bay of Bengal show a profound in#uence on
the distribution and dynamics of the phytoplankton (both the DCM and CMAX) and
also on the depth of the DSM.
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to Dr. E. Desa, Director, NIO, Sri L.V.G.Rao and Dr.
K.S.R. Murty for their keen interest in this study. Thanks are also due to Prof. Karl
Banse for his valuable suggestions on the manuscript during his short stay at NIO,
Goa. The authors GVMG, DJ and YS are thankful to the Department of Ocean
Development, India, and PNMS to the Department of Science and Technology,
India, for their "nancial assistance through research fellowships. The authors are also
thankful to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions
towards the improvement of the paper. This work was carried out under the institutional project MLP 090129. NIO Contribution no. 3482.
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