Seasonal and Interannual Sea Surface Temperature Variability in the Coastal Cities of Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal

The sea surface temperature (SST) variations play a veryimportant role in the genesis and maintenance of meteorological and oceanographic processessuch as monsoon depressions and subsequent floods, large-scale sea level fluctuationsand genesis of tropical cyclones. Many low lying coastal regions of South Asia are adjacentto river deltas and have large population. The dense population, poor economy and severalother socio-economic factors make these areas most vulnerable to the impact of climate change.Variability of sea surface temperature (SST) is importantas the duration and intensity of SST provide the basis for studies related to climatic changescenario. In this study an attempt has been made to estimate the recent SST trends in the coastalwaters of some cities, which lie on the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. The annual andinterannual variability has also been studied. The SST variations have then been linkedwith the El Nino and La Nina events.The NOAA-NASA Pathfinder Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) SST fields from 1985-1998, created in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory(JPL), USA are used in this study. Here the quality of data is an important factor toobtain reliable estimates of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) trends and other related parameters.However, this is not possible with the conventional type data, due to low quality as wellas sparse data in the region. Though the satellite based SST climatologies have shorterobservation lengths, they can provide reliable estimates of recent SST variability overa large oceanic areas with sparse or no data.Increasing trend of SST is observed throughout all theseasons in the northern Arabian Sea extending from Oman to Karachi and Mumbai and furthersouth to Salalah and Colombo. However, in coastal islands stations further south ofIndia such as at Colombo the increment is not significant. Though the increasing trend in SSTduring winter is not significant, nevertheless it shows the increasing influence of coldspells on this Island. An interesting situation has been observed in the Bay of Bengal. On anaverage, increasing trends in the annual SST were observed in Visakhaputnam. But at thestations located in the northeastern part of Bay of Bengal, namely Hiron Point and Cox'sBazar reverse conditions are observed. In the Southern Bay of Bengal variations in SST isnot significant which reflects in the SST analysis of Chennai and Port Blair stations. Locationof these stations at lower latitudes (near by equator) probably is the reason for this insignificantchange. It has been found that the interannual mode of SST variations dominate the linear SSTtrends which is characterized by the El Nino Southern Oscillations (ENSO) scale cycle.     

Fluxes of material in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal — Sediment trap studies

In order to investigate how monsoons influence biogeochemical fluxes in the ocean, twelve time-series sediment traps were deployed at six locations in the northern Indian Ocean. In this paper we present particle flux data collected during May 1986 to November 1991 and November 1987 to November 1992 in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal respectively. Particle fluxes were high during both the SW and NE monsoons in the Arabian Sea as well as in the Bay of Bengal. The mechanisms of particle production and transport, however, differ in both the regions. In the Arabian Sea, average annual fluxes are over 50gm^-2y^-1 in the western Arabian Sea and less than 27gm^-2 y^-1 in the central part. Biogenic matter is dominant at sites located near upwelling centers, and is less degraded during peak flux periods. High particle fluxes in the offshore areas of the Arabian Sea are caused by injection of nutrients into the euphotic zone due to wind-induced mixed layer deepening. In the Bay of Bengal, average annual fluxes are highest in the central Bay of Bengal (over 50gm^-2y^-1) and are least in the southern part of the Bay (37gm^-2y^-1). Particle flux patterns coincide with freshwater discharge patterns of the Ganges-Brahmaputra river system. Opal/carbonate and organic carbon/carbonate carbon ratios increase during the SW monsoon due to variations in salinity and productivity patterns in the surface waters as a result of increased freshwater and nutrient input from rivers. Comparison of S years data show that fluxes of biogenic and lithogenic particulate matter are higher in the Bay of Bengal even though the Arabian Sea is considered to be more productive. Our results indicate that in the northern Indian Ocean interannual variability in organic carbon flux is directly related to the strength and intensity of the SW monsoon while its transfer from the upper layers to the deep sea is partly controlled by input of lithogenic matter from adjacent continents.     

Role of biology in the air-sea carbon flux in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea

A physical-biological-chemical model (PBCM) is used for investigating the seasonal cycle of air-sea carbon flux and for assessing the effect of the biological processes on seasonal time scale in the Arabian Sea (AS) and Bay of Bengal (BoB), where the surface waters are subjected to contrasting physical conditions. The formulation of PBCM is given in Swathi et al (2000), and evaluation of several ammonium-inhibited nitrate uptake models is given in Sharada et al (2005). The PBCM is here first evaluated against JGOFS data on surface pCO₂ in AS, Bay of Bengal Process Studies (BoBPS) data on column integrated primary productivity in BoB, and WOCE Il data on dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and alkalinity (ALK) in the upper 500 meters at 9°N in AS and at 10°N in BoB in September–October. There is good qualitative agreement with local quantitative discrepancies. The net effect of biological processes on air-sea carbon flux on seasonal time scale is determined with an auxiliary computational experiment, called the abiotic run, in which the biological processes are turned off. The difference between the biotic run and abiotic run is interpreted as the net effect of biological processes on the seasonal variability of chemical variables. The net biological effect on air-sea carbon flux is found to be highest in southwest monsoon season in the northwest AS, where strong upwelling drives intense new production. The biological effect is larger in AS than in BoB, as seasonal upwelling and mixing are strong in AS, especially in the northeast, while coastal upwelling and mixing are weak in BoB.     

Natural radionuclides in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal: Distribution and evaluation of particle scavenging processes

Vertical and temporal variations in the activities of²³⁴Th,²¹⁰Po and²¹⁰Pb have been measured, in both dissolved and paniculate phases, at several stations in the eastern Arabian Sea and north-central Bay of Bengal. A comparative study allows us to make inferences about the particle associated scavenging processes in these two seas having distinct biogeochemical properties. A common feature of the²³⁴Th profiles, in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, is that the dissolved as well as total (dissolved + particulate) activity of²³⁴Th is deficient in the surface 200 m with respect to its parent,²³⁸U. This gross deficiency is attributed to the preferential removal of²³⁴Th by adsorption onto settling particles which account for its net loss from the surface waters. The scavenging rates of dissolved²³⁴Th are comparable in these two basins. The temporal variations in the²³⁴Th-²³⁸U disequilibrium are significantly pronounced both in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal indicating that the scavenging rates are more influenced by the increased abundance of particles rather than their chemical make-up. In the mixed layer (0–50 m), the scavenging residence time of²³⁴Th ranges from 30 to 100 days. The surface and deep waters of both the seas show an enhanced deficiency of dissolved²¹⁰Po relative to²¹⁰Pb and that of²¹⁰Pb relative to²²⁶Ra. The deficiencies of both²¹⁰Po and²¹⁰Pb in the dissolved phases are not balanced by their abundance in the particulate form indicating a net loss of both these nuclides from the water column. The scavenging rates of²¹⁰Po and²¹⁰Pb are significantly enhanced in the Bay of Bengal compared to those in the Arabian Sea. The mean dissolved²¹⁰Po/²¹⁰Pb and²¹⁰Pb/²²⁶Ra activity ratios in deep waters of the Bay of Bengal are ∼ 0.7 and 0.1, respectively, representing some of the most pronounced disequilibria observed to date in the deep sea. The Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea appear to be the regions of most intense particle moderated scavenging processes in the world oceans. This is evidenced by the gross disequilibria exhibited by the three isotope pairs used in this study.     

Variations in long term wind speed during different decades in Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal

A study has been carried out by comparing the extreme wind speeds estimated based on NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data for 100 years return period using Fischer Tippet-1 (commonly known as Gumbel) and Weibull distributions for three locations (off Goa, Visakhapatnam and Machilipatnam) in the north Indian Ocean. The wind dataset for Goa is compared with that from ERA-40 data. For higher wind speeds (12–20m s⁻¹), NCEP wind speed has higher percentage of occurrence than that of ERA-40. Analysis has shown slight upward trend in the annual maximum wind for location off Machilipatnam with an increase of 1.2 cm s⁻¹ per year and a decreasing trend of −1.3 cm s⁻¹ per year in the case of Goa. The Weibull distribution with shape parameter 2 fits the annual maximum wind data better than FT-1 distribution.     

Chemical characteristics of aerosols in MABL of Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea during spring inter-monsoon: A comparative study

The chemical composition of aerosols in the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer (MABL) of Bay of Bengal (BoB) and Arabian Sea (AS) has been studied during the spring and inter-monsoon (March-May 2006) based on the analysis of water soluble constituents (Na⁺, NH ₄ ⁺ , K⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Cl^?, NO ₃ ^? and SO ₄ ^2? ), crustal elements (Al, Fe, and Ca) and carbonaceous species (EC, OC). The total suspended particulates (TSP) ranged from 5.2 to 46.6 μg m^?3 and 8.2 to 46.9 μg m^?3 during the sampling transects in the BoB and AS respectively. The water-soluble species, on average, accounted for 44% and 33% of TSP over BoB and AS respectively, with dominant contribution of SO ₄ ^2? over both the oceanic regions. However, distinct differences with respect to elevated abundances of NH ₄ ⁺ in the MABL of BoB and that of Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ in AS are clearly evident. The non-sea-salt component of SO ₄ ^2? ranging from 82 to 98% over BoB and 35 to 98% over AS; together with nss-Ca²⁺/nss-SO ₄ ^2? equivalent ratios 0.12 to 0.5 and 0.2 to 1.16, respectively, provide evidence for the predominance of anthropogenic constituents and chemical transformation processes occurring within MABL. The concentrations of OC and EC average around 1.9 and 0.4 μg m^?3 in BoB and exhibit a decreasing trend from north to south; however, abundance of these carbonaceous species are not significantly pronounced over AS. The abundance of Al, used as a proxy for mineral aerosols, varied from 0.2 to 1.9 μg m^?3 over BoB and AS, with a distinctly different spatial pattern — decreasing north to south in BoB in contrast to an increasing pattern in the Arabian Sea.     

Spatial distribution of atmospheric carbon monoxide over Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea: Measurements during pre-monsoon period of 2006

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) conducted the ‘Integrated Campaign for Aerosols, gases and Radiation Budget (ICARB)’ for a two-month pre-monsoon period in 2006 with the ocean segment covering Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea. During this campaign, carbon monoxide (CO) was continuously monitored using a non-dispersive IR analyser. Quantifying CO in ambient air is vital in determining the air quality of a region. Being toxic, CO is a criteria pollutant, but it is a weak green house gas. Globally, very few measurements exist over marine atmospheres to study its temporal pattern; particularly in situ CO measurements are few over the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea for comparison. Present measurements indicate: (i) predominant single peak in the diurnal pattern of CO over the marine atmosphere in contrast to the double peak over the continent, (ii) the mean diurnal CO over the marine atmosphere showing an increasing trend towards evening hours, (iii) the amplitude of the AN peaks over the marine atmosphere was ∼ 100 ppbv, while at a remote island site in the Indian Ocean it was ∼ 5 ppbv and (iv) high CO values were observed close to continent and the long range transport by wind also caused CO highs.     

Latitudinal and longitudinal variation in aerosol characteristics from Sun photometer and MODIS over the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea during ICARB

Spatial variations in aerosol optical properties as function of latitude and longitude are analysed over the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea during ICARB cruise period of March–May 2006 from in situ sun photometer and MODIS (Terra, Aqua) satellite measurements. Monthly mean 550 nm aerosol optical depths (AODs) over the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea show an increase from March to May both in spatial extent and magnitude. AODs are found to increase with latitude from 4°N to 20°N over the Bay of Bengal while over Arabian Sea, variations are not significant. Sun photometer and MODIS AODs agree well within ±1σ variation. Bay of Bengal AOD (0.28) is higher than the Arabian Sea (0.24) latitudinally. Aerosol fine mode fraction (FMF) is higher than 0.6 over Bay of Bengal, while FMF in the Arabian Sea is about 0.5. Bay of Bengal α(～1) is higher than the Arabian Sea value of 0.7, suggesting the dominance of fine mode aerosols over Bay of Bengal which is corroborated by higher FMF values over Bay of Bengal. Air back trajectory analyses suggest that aerosols from different source regions contribute differently to the optical characteristics over the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.     

Evolution of salinity field in the upper layers of the east central Arabian Sea and northern Bay of Bengal during summer monsoon experiments

The intra-seasonal variability observed in the salinity field of the upper layers at a few locations in the east central Arabian Sea and the northern Bay of Bengal during the summer monsoon seasons of 1977 and 1979 is documented with the aid of short time series (1–2 weeks) of salinity measurements made from USSR and Indian ships deployed during MONSOON-77 (1977) and MONEX-79 (1979) field experiments. In the Arabian Sea a typical subsurface maxima observed beneath the mixed layer base either disappeared or considerably weakened due to strong vertical mixing caused by the monsoonal forcing. In the northern Bay of Bengal the salinity variability in the top 30 m water column was rapid and appeared to be influenced by large amounts of fresh water from rain and probably from the major adjoining rivers. Some simple diagnostic calculations are presented to assess the relative importance of various processes which control the observed salinity variability.     

On the marine atmospheric boundary layer characteristics over Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea during the Integrated Campaign for Aerosols,gases and Radiation Budget (ICARB)

Detailed measurements were carried out in the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer (MABL) during the Integrated Campaign for Aerosols, gases and Radiation Budget (ICARB) which covered both Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal during March to May 2006. In this paper, we present the meteorological observations made during this campaign. The latitudinal variation of the surface layer turbulent fluxes is also described in detail.     

Sea surface temperature trends in Kuwait Bay,Arabian Gulf

The magnitude 8.1 earthquake and subsequent tsunami killed 52 people when it hit the Solomon Islands on 2 April 2007. That number would have likely been considerably higher were it not for the appropriate reaction of the indigenous coastal populations and a helpful physical geography. Buffering coral reefs reflected some wave energy back to sea, reducing the power of the wave. Hills a short distance behind the coastal villages provided accessible havens. Despite this beneficial physiography, immigrant populations died at disproportionately high rates in comparably damaged areas because they did not recognize the signs of the impeding tsunami. The indigenous population of Tapurai, which lacks a steep barrier reef to reflect the incoming energy, experienced a much more powerful wave, and the population suffered heavy losses. Indigenous knowledge as an integral tool in basin wide tsunami warning systems has the potential to mitigate disasters in the near field. Community-based disaster management plans must be cognizant of educating diverse populations that have different understandings of their environment.     

Numerical Modelling of Storm Surge in the Head Bay of Bengal Using Location Specific Model

The head Bay of Bengal region, which covers part of Orissa and west Bengal in India as well as Bangladesh, is one of the most vulnerable regions of extreme sea levels associated with severe tropical cyclones which cause extensive damage. There has been extensive loss of life and property due to extreme events in this region. Shallow nature of the Bay, presence of Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna deltaic system and high tidal range are responsible for storm surges in this region. In view of this a location specific fine resolution numerical modelis developed for the simulation of storm surges. To represent mostof the islands and rivers in this region a 3km grid resolution is adopted. Several numerical experiments are carried out to compute the storm surges using the wind stress forcings representative of 1974, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1994 and 1999 cyclones, which crossed this region. The model computed surges are in good agreement with the available observations/estimates.     

Storm surges in the Arabian Gulf

The storm surge phenomenon in the Arabian Gulf, including the Strait of Hormuz, is discussed with particular emphasis on the development of mathematical models for prediction purposes. The Gulf is mainly influenced by extra-tropical weather systems, whereas the region south of the Strait of Hormuz is affected by tropical cyclones. The west-to-east directed extra-tropical cyclone tracks and the generally east-to-west directed tropical cyclone tracks converge near the Strait of Hormuz. A meso-scale weather system that deserves special attention in prescribing the meteorological forcing functions is the so-called winter Shamal. A two-dimensional numerical model is developed to study the storm surges in the Arabian Gulf. The results show that the Gulf is subject to major negative and positive storm surges. Strong winds associated with the Shamal system, coupled with atmospheric pressure gradients, topography and tidal effects, can give rise to water level deviations of several meters. Storm surges observed during the period 17–19 January 1973 show that negative values in the 0.5 to 1.0m range were widespread in the Gulf.     

Chemical characteristics of PM<Subscript>10</Subscript> aerosols and airmass trajectories over Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea during ICARB

For the first time, chemical characterization of PM₁₀ aerosols was attempted over the Bay of Bengal (BoB) and Arabian Sea (AS) during the ICARB campaign. Dominance of SO ₄ ^2? , NH ₄ ⁺ and NO ₃ ^? was noticed over both the regions which indicated the presence of ammonium sulphate and ammonium nitrate as major water soluble particles playing a very important role in the radiation budget. It was observed that all the chemical constituents had higher concentrations over Bay of Bengal as compared to Arabian Sea. Higher concentrations were observed near the Indian coast showing influence of landmass indicating that gaseous pollutants like SO₂, NH₃ and NO _x are transported over to the sea regions which consequently contribute to higher SO ₄ ^2? , NH ₄ ⁺ and NO ₃ ^? aerosols respectively. The most polluted region over BoB was 13°?19°N and 70°?90°E while it was near 11°N and 75°E over AS. Although the concentrations were higher over Bay of Bengal for all the chemical constituents of PM₁₀ aerosols, per cent non-sea salt (nss) fraction (with respect to Na) was higher over Arabian Sea. Very low Ca2+ concentration was observed at Arabian Sea which led to higher atmospheric acidity as compared to BoB. Nss SO ₄ ^2? alone contributed 48% of total water soluble fraction over BoB as well as AS. Ratios SO ₄ ^2? /NO _? ³ over both the regions (7.8 and 9 over BoB and AS respectively) were very high as compared to reported values at land sites like Allahabad (0.63) and Kanpur (0.66) which may be due to very low NO.3 over sea regions as compared to land sites. Air trajectory analysis showed four classes: (i) airmass passing through Indian land, (ii) from oceanic region, (iii) northern Arabian Sea and Middle East and (iv) African continent. The highest nss SO ₄ ^2? was observed during airmasses coming from the Indian land side while lowest concentrations were observed when the air was coming from oceanic regions. Moderate concentrations of nss SO2. 4 were observed when air was seen moving from the Middle East and African continent. The pH of rainwater was observed to be in the range of 5.9–6.5 which is lower than the values reported over land sites. Similar feature was reported over the Indian Ocean during INDOEX indicating that marine atmosphere had more free acidity than land atmosphere.     

Hurricane storm surge simulations for Tampa Bay

Using a high resolution, three-dimensional, primitive equation, finite volume coastal ocean model with flooding and drying capabilities, supported by a merged bathymetric-topographic data set and driven by prototypical hurricane winds and atmospheric pressure fields, we investigated the storm surge responses for the Tampa Bay, Florida, vicinity and their sensitivities to point of landfall, direction and speed of approach, and intensity. All of these factors were found to be important. Flooding potential by wind stress and atmospheric pressure induced surge is significant for a category 2 hurricane and catastrophic for a category 4 hurricane. Tide, river, and wave effects are additive, making the potential for flood-induced damage even greater. Since storm surge sets up as a slope to the sea surface, the highest surge tends to occur over the upper reaches of the bay, Old Tampa Bay and Hillsborough Bay in particular. For point of landfall sensitivity, the worst case is when the hurricane center is positioned north of the bay mouth such that the maximum winds associated with the eye wall are at the bay mouth. Northerly (southerly) approaching storms yield larger (smaller) surges since the winds initially set up (set down) water level. As a hybrid between the landfall and direction sensitivity experiments, a storm transiting up the bay axis from southwest to northeast yields the smallest surge, debunking a misconception that this is the worst Tampa Bay flooding case. Hurricanes with slow (fast) translation speeds yield larger (smaller) surges within Tampa Bay due to the time required to redistribute mass.     

Circulation and water masses of the Arabian Sea

The dynamics and thermodynamics of the surface layer of the Arabian Sea, north of about 10N, are dominated by the monsoon-related annual cycle of air-sea fluxes of momentum and heat. The currents in open-sea regime of this layer can be largely accounted for by Ekman drift and the thermal field is dominated by local heat fluxes. The geostrophic currents in open-sea subsurface regime also show a seasonal cycle and there is some evidence that signatures of this cycle appear as deep as 1000 m. The forcing due to Ekman suction is an important mechanism for the geostrophic currents in the central and western parts of the Sea. Recent studies suggest that the eastern part is strongly influenced by the Rossby waves radiated by the Kelvin waves propagating along the west coast of India. The circulation in the coastal region off Oman is driven mainly by local winds and there is no remotely driven western boundary current. Local wind-driving is also important to the coastal circulation off western India during the southwest monsoon but not during the northeast monsoon when a strong (approximately 7 × 10⁶m³/sec) current moves poleward against weak winds. This current is driven by a pressure gradient which forms along this coast during the northeast monsoon due to either thermohaline-forcing or due to the arrival of Kelvin waves from the Bay of Bengal. The present speculation about flow of bottom water (deeper than about 3500 m) in the Arabian Sea is that it moves northward and upwells into the layer of North Indian Deep Water (approximately 1500–3500m). It is further speculated that the flow in this layer consists of a poleward western boundary current and a weak equatorward flow in the interior. It is not known if there is an annual cycle associated with the deep and the bottom water circulation.     

Denitrification processes in the Arabian Sea

Recent information on some consequences of the acute mid-water oxygen deficiency in the Arabian Sea, especially on carbon-nitrogen cycling, is reviewed. An evaluation of published estimates of water column denitrification rate suggests an overall rate in the vicinity of 30Tg Ny^-1, but the extent of benthic contribution remains unknown. A decoupling of denitrification from primary production, unique to the Arabian Sea, is revealed by nitrite, electron transport system (ETS) activity and bacterial production data. Results of both enzymatic and microbiological investigations strongly point to a major role of organic carbon other than that sinking from surface layers in supporting denitrification. Although denitrification is associated with an intermediate nepheloid layer, it seems unlikely that the excess carbon comes with particles re-suspended along the continental margins and transported quasi-horizontally into the ocean interior; instead, the particle maximum may directly reflect a higher bacterial abundance. It is proposed that denitrification may be predominantly fuelled by the dissolved organic matter.     

Recent sedimentary records from the Arabian Sea

An attempt is made to understand the redox conditions that prevailed in the north eastern continental margins of the Arabian Sea and in the nearby deep water regions during the past few centuries using short undisturbed sediment cores. The geochronology is accomplished using²¹⁰Pb excess method and the proxy indicators chosen for productivity and associated redox changes are CaCO₃, organic matter (OM), Mn and U along with major elements Fe and Al. Such changes in principle are related to high productivity in the overlying waters which in turn depend on monsoonal intensity that causes upwelling responsible for increase in productivity. Alongwith the published data on gravity cores from the same region, our measurements suggest the following: At ∼ 300 m water depth, south of 21°N, the sediment-water interface at depths of ∼ 300 m had been anoxic during the time span represented by the presently studied cores for approximately ∼ 700y as evidenced by low Mn/Al (< 0.7 × 10⁻²) and high U/Al (> 10⁻⁴) weight ratios. In some adjacent deeper regions, however, the environment turned oxic around ∼ 200 y BP. Whereas both Mn and Ra were lost to the overlying waters in the anoxic regions (depth ∼340m), the Mn that diffused from deeper sections appears to have mineralized at the sediment-water-interface. Studies of this type on long undisturbed cores from the margins of the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, involving several proxies and geochronology by more than one method are needed to understand short term environmental (and monsoonal intensity) changes of the recent past with high resolution.     

High saline waters in Bay of Bengal

Bay of Bengal is well known for less saline waters in the surface layer of northern Indian Ocean. High saline waters of the Bay are considered as an influx from the Arabian Sea within a depth range of 200 to 900 m. Some of the recent observations in the western Bay of Bengal have shown salinity values higher than those reported earlier (35-2 × 10⁻³). Such values are explained on the basis of regional climatology suggesting their local formation on the shallow continental shelf during pre-monsoon months and their subsequent distribution along the coast.