Palaeoceanographic implications of abundance and mean proloculus diameter of benthic foraminiferal speciesEpistominella exigua in sub-surface sediments from distal Bay of Bengal fan

Temporal variation in abundance and mean proloculus diameter of the benthic foraminiferal speciesEpistominella exigua has been reconstructed over the last ∼ 50,000 yr BP, from a core collected from the distal Bay of Bengal fan, to assess its potential application in palaeoceanographic reconstruction studies. The down-core variation shows significant change in abundance ofE. exigua during the last ∼ 50,000 yr BP. In view of the present day abundance of this species from areas with strong seasonal organic matter supply, we conclude that at ∼ 7, ∼ 22, ∼ 33 and ∼ 46kyr BP, strong seasonality prevailed in the distal Bay of Bengal fan, probably indicating either strong or prolonged north-east monsoon or weakened south-west monsoon. For the first time, a strong correlation is observed in abundance and mean proloculus diameter ofE. exigua. Based on coherent variation in mean proloculus diameter and abundance, it is postulated that mean proloculus diameter can also be used to infer increased seasonality in organic matter production, thus variation in strength or duration of monsoon. Thus, this study establishes that the down-core variation in the abundance and mean proloculus diameter ofEpistominella exigua can be used to infer past climatic variations from the distal Bay of Bengal fan.     

Cold seeps in Monterey Bay, California: Geochemistry of pore waters and relationship to benthic foraminiferal calcite

An extensive geochemical and biogeochemical examination of CH₄ seeps in the Clam Flats area of Monterey Bay provides insight into the character of relationships between seep geochemistry and benthic foraminiferal geochemistry. The area is characterized by sulfide-rich fluids. Sulfide increases are associated with large increases in alkalinity, as well as small decreases in dissolved Ca and Mg. In addition, only small increases in NH₄ are observed, but values of δ¹³C of dissolved inorganic C are as low as −60‰ at shallow depths (<3 cm). These observations indicate that all these processes are related to the bacterial oxidation of CH₄, which is transported upward by slow seepage of pore fluids. The geochemistry of the pore fluids should be relevant to the geochemistry of the carbonate tests of living and dead foraminifera. However, a profound disequilibrium of approximately an order of magnitude occurs between the δ¹³C values of stained (cytoplasm-containing) foraminiferal carbonate and the C isotope values of ambient pore water dissolved inorganic C. Reasons are unclear for this isotopic disequilibrium, but have important implications for interpretations of foraminiferal carbonate as a paleoenvironmental proxy. Much fine scale work is needed to fully understand the relationships between the biogeochemistry of benthic foraminifera and the geochemistry of the pore waters where they live.     

Late Pleistocene-Holocene benthic foraminiferal distribution in the southwestern Barents Sea: Paleoenvironmental implications

A benthic foraminiferal stratigraphy from the southwestern Barents Sea indicates that foraminifera were reworked and deposited in tills during the last glaciation. The deglaciation occurred in three main steps: (1) Presence of an Elphidium excavatum dominated assemblage > 13,300–12,000 B.P. (2), Nonion barleeanum dominated assemblage 12,000–10,000 B.P., and (3) establishment of a fauna similar to the modern one at 10,000 B.P. The transition from step 1 to step 2 indicates that the deglacial warming/incipient intrusion of Atlantic water was delayed in the southwestern Barents Sea compared with the western margin of the Norwegian shelf by approximately 1,000 years. Corrosive bottom water that formed during the last deglaciation causing carbonate dissolution may be due to poor ventilation or increased biogenic production accompanying the inferred oceanographic changes.     

Neogene deep sea benthic foraminiferal diversity in the Indian Ocean: Paleoceanographic implications

The species diversity indices, as defined by the number of species,S; Shannon-Wiener index,H(S) and Buzas-Gibson index,É, of DSDP sites 219, 220, 237 and 238 were measured to determine the benthic foraminiferal diversity patterns in the Indian Ocean deep sea sequences during the Neogene. The Time-Stability hypothesis could satisfactorily explain the observed diversity patterns. The general patterns of diversity suggest environmental stability during the Neogene. However, few small fluctuations in diversity during the Middle Miocene (c.14·8 Ma), Late Miocene (c.6·0 Ma) and Late Pliocene (c.2·0 Ma) may possibly be the effects of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) activity in this region. The benthic foraminiferal diversity in the tropical Indian Ocean is more than the high latitudinal areas with comparable depths.     

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.     

Palaeoceanographic development in Storfjorden,Svalbard, during the deglaciation and Holocene: evidence from benthic foraminiferal records

Brines can have a profound influence on the relative abundance of calcareous and agglutinated foraminiferal faunas. Here we investigated the distribution of benthic foraminiferal species in four cores from a brine‐enriched environment in Storfjorden, Svalbard. Stratigraphically, the cores comprise the last 15 000 years. The purpose of the study was to reconstruct changes in the palaeoecology and palaeoceanography of Storfjorden in relation to past climate changes, and to identify potential indicator species for brine‐affected environments. The benthic foraminifera in Storfjorden all have widespread occurrences in the Arctic realm. Calcareous species dominated Storfjorden during the deglaciation and early Holocene until c. 8200 a BP. However, agglutinated species increased in abundance whenever conditions became colder with more sea ice and stronger brine formation, such as during the Older Dryas, the Intra‐Allerød Cold Period and the Younger Dryas. Following a moderately cold period with numerous agglutinated foraminifera from c. 8200–4000 a BP, conditions became more changeable from c. 4000 a BP with repeated shifts between warmer periods dominated by calcareous species and colder periods dominated by agglutinated species. The warmer periods show a stronger influence of Atlantic Water, with reduced brine formation and less corrosive conditions at the sea bottom. Conversely, the colder periods show a stronger influence of Arctic water, with higher brine production and more corrosive bottom water. The distribution patterns of the calcareous species are basically the same whether calculated relative to the total fauna (including agglutinated specimens) or relative to calcareous specimens alone. Moreover, the patterns are similar to the patterns found elsewhere along western Svalbard in areas without the influence of brines. No particular species appear to be specifically linked to brine formation. However, the most persistent agglutinated species R. scorpiurus and A. glomerata are also the species most tolerant of the acidic bottom water that normally is associated with brine formation.     

Distribution of benthic foraminiferal assemblages in the transitional environment of the Djerba lagoon (Tunisia)

The eastern edge of the Djerba Island represents an important tourist pole. However, studies describing the environmental processes affecting this Island are scarce. Although never studied before, the peculiar Djerba lagoon is well known by the local population and by tourists. In July 2014, surface sediment and seawater samples were collected in this lagoon to measure grain size, organic matter content and living foraminiferal assemblages to describe environmental conditions. Seawater samples were also collected and the concentration of 17 chemical elements were measured by ICP-OES. The results show that a salinity gradient along the studied transect clearly impacts seagrass distribution, creating different environmental conditions inside the Djerba lagoon. Biotic and abiotic parameters reflect a transitional environment from hypersaline to normal marine conditions. Living benthic foraminifera show an adaptation to changing conditions within the different parts of the lagoon. In particular, the presence of Ammonia spp. and Haynesina depressula correlates with hypersaline waters, whilst Brizalina striatula characterizes the parts of the lagoon colonized by seagrass. Epifaunal species, such as Rosalina vilardeboana and Amphistegina spp. colonize hard substrata present at the transition between the lagoon and the open sea.     

Orographic control of the Bay of Bengal cold pool rainfall

In boreal summer (June–September), most of the Indian land and its surroundings experience rainrates exceeding 6 mm day\(^{-1}\) with considerable spatial variability. Over southern Bay of Bengal (BoB) along the east coast of the Indian peninsula (henceforth referred to as the Bay of Bengal cold pool or BoB-CP), the rain intensity is significantly lower (<2 mm day\(^{-1}\)) than its surroundings. This low rainfall occurs despite the fact that the sea surface temperature in this region is well above the threshold for convection and the mean vorticity of the boundary layer is cyclonic with a magnitude comparable to that over the central Indian monsoon trough where the rainrate is about 10 mm day\(^{-1}\). It is also noteworthy that the seasonal cycle of convection over the BoB-CP shows a primary peak in November and a secondary peak in May. This is in contrast to the peak in June–July over most of the oceanic locations surrounding the BoB-CP. In this study, we investigate the role of the Western Ghat (WG) mountains in an Atmospheric General Circulation Model (AGCM) to understand this paradox. Decade-long simulations of the AGCM were carried out with varying (from 0 to 2 times the present) heights of the WG. We find that the lee waves generated by the strong westerlies in the lower troposphere in the presence of the WG mountains cause descent over the BoB-CP. Thus, an increase in the height of the WG strengthens the lee waves and reduces rainfall over the BoB-CP. More interestingly in the absence of WG mountains, the BoB-CP shows a rainfall maxima in the boreal summer similar to that over its surrounding oceans. The WG also impacts the climate over the middle and high latitude regions by modifying the upper tropospheric circulation. The results of this study underline the importance of narrow mountains like the WG in the tropics in determining the global climate and possibly calls for a better representation of such mountains in climate models.     

Auto-correlation analysis of wave heights in the Bay of Bengal

Time series observations of significant wave heights in the Bay of Bengal were subjected to auto-correlation analysis to determine temporal variability scale. The analysis indicates an exponential fall of auto-correlation in the first few hours with a decorrelation time scale of about six hours. A similar figure was found earlier for ocean surface winds. The nature of variation of auto-correlation with time lags was also found to be similar for winds and wave heights     

Distribution of particulate carbohydrate species in the Bay of Bengal

Suspended particulate matter (SPM) of surface seawaters was collected during December 2003 to October 2004 at 10 stations in the Bay of Bengal, and analyzed for particulate organic carbon (POC), total particulate nitrogen (TPN), total particulate carbohydrate (TPCHO) and total particulate uronic acids (TPURA). The concentrations of POC, TPCHO and TPURA varied from 4.80 to 29.12, 0.85 to 4.24, 0.09 to 0.91 μM C, respectively. The TPCHO-C and TPURA-C accounted for 6.6–32.5% and 0.87–3.65% of POC. The trends observed for the distribution of these compounds were generally similar to those recorded for the distribution of chlorophyll a (Chl a). The C/N ratios varied from 3.2 to 22.3 with most of the values being < 10. This suggests that the organic matter was mostly derived from phytoplankton and bacteria. Relatively low C/N ratios and high TPCHO yield imply that freshly derived organic matter was present during SWM and FIM. Our data suggest that the quality and quantity of organic matter varied spatially and seasonally.     

孟加拉湾深海记录中的等深流活动特征及其环境意义初探

实地观测和对沉积记录的研究表明，孟加拉湾存在大的等深流活动。通过采自孟加拉深海东部和中部的3支活塞岩心的学积学研究表明，那些氧化色彩强烈，钼质生物壳体溶蚀严重，不存在粒序层理的粉砂质薄层实际上是等沉积作用的产物，源自两极的等深流是全球温盐循环系统的关键组分，它们的过去150ka的历史中曾经多次得到强化，不仅对研究区的环境变化产生重要影响，而且可能作为纽带，加强了低纬地区与极区在气候意义上的遥相关，等深流的强化与冰川旋顺之间似乎不存在密切关联，氧同位素第3，4，5期内均可发现明显的强化记录，关于强化的控制机制有待深入探讨。     

Quench textures in pillow basalt from the Andaman-Nicobar Islands,Bay of Bengal,India

Tholeiitic pillow basalt from the South Andaman island, an integral part of the outer sedimentary arc of the Sunda-Burmese double chain arc system in the Bay of Bengal, is characterized by the occurrence of several morphologies of quenched crystals of plagioclase and pyroxene. Plagioclase shows a swallow tail, belt-buckle, rosette and closely spaced fan-spherulites pattern while pyroxene has elongate parallel chain, dendritic, spherulitic and finely ornamented feathery spherulitic habit. Most of these textures are identical to those reported from submarine basalts, lunar basalts, spinifex textured rocks and experimentally produced textures. The occurrence of these quench textures in the Andaman basalt suggests that they were formed by rapid cooling at 30–70°C/h in a submarine environment.     

Seasonal Variability of Cyclone Heat Potential in the Bay of Bengal

Monthly maps of cyclone heat potential (CHP) in the Bay of Bengalhave been prepared by using Levitus climatological data set. Seasonal variability ofCHP in the Bay of Bengal has been studied using the CTD data sets collected duringfive cruises during the period, 1993–1996. High value (>30 kcal/cm²) of CHP coincided with anticyclonic gyre (ACG) and the low value of CHP (16 kcal/cm²) coincided with thecyclonic gyre (CG). This emphasizes the importance of gyres in the distribution ofCHP, which play an important role in the intensification of cyclones/depressions.CHP is >14 kcal/cm² over Andaman Sea, southern and Central Bay of Bengal where the generation and movement of cyclones take place during post south west monsoon season (October–November). A depression formed on 07.11.95 at 11°N; 91°E and intensified into a cyclonic storm by 8th November evening and crossed Orissa Coast on 9th November 1995. A few days before its formation, the value of CHP at the origin of thiscyclone was about 20 kcal/cm². To understand the exact role of CHP in theformation and intensification of cyclones/depressions over Bay of Bengal, more intense and systematic data sets are essential.     

Distribution of particulate organic carbon in the central Bay of Bengal

Particulate organic carbon (POC) was measured for 77 water samples collected over a 3000 m water column along 88° E in the central Bay of Bengal. The POC values varied from 80 to 895 μg per litre at the surface and 171 to 261 μg per litre at 2000 m. The POC decreased with increasing water depth at all the stations. Deep water concentrations of POC were higher than those reported from other oceanic waters. Distribution of POC was not influenced by water masses. The POC was not significantly correlated with chlorophylla.     

Carbon Dioxide and Methane Emissions from Mangrove-Associated Waters of the Andaman Islands,Bay of Bengal

We estimated CO₂ and CH₄ emissions from mangrove-associated waters of the Andaman Islands by sampling hourly over 24 h in two tidal mangrove creeks (Wright Myo; Kalighat) and during transects in contiguous shallow inshore waters, immediately following the northeast monsoons (dry season) and during the peak of the southwest monsoons (wet season) of 2005 and 2006. Tidal height correlated positively with dissolved O₂ and negatively with pCO₂, CH₄, total alkalinity (TAlk) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), and pCO₂ and CH₄ were always highly supersaturated (330–1,627 % CO₂; 339–26,930 % CH₄). These data are consistent with a tidal pumping response to hydrostatic pressure change. There were no seasonal trends in dissolved CH₄ but pCO₂ was around twice as high during the 2005 wet season than at other times, in both the tidal surveys and the inshore transects. Fourfold higher turbidity during the wet season is consistent with elevated net benthic and/or water column heterotrophy via enhanced organic matter inputs from adjacent mangrove forest and/or the flushing of CO₂-enriched soil waters, which may explain these CO₂ data. TAlk/DIC relationships in the tidally pumped waters were most consistent with a diagenetic origin of CO₂ primarily via sulphate reduction, with additional inputs via aerobic respiration. A decrease with salinity for pCO₂, CH₄, TAlk and DIC during the inshore transects reflected offshore transport of tidally pumped waters. Estimated mean tidal creek emissions were ～23–173 mmol m^?2 day^?1 CO₂ and ～0.11–0.47 mmol m^?2 day^?1 CH₄. The CO₂ emissions are typical of mangrove-associated waters globally, while the CH₄ emissions fall at the low end of the published range. Scaling to the creek open water area (2,700 km²) gave total annual creek water emissions ～3.6–9.2?×?10¹⁰ mol CO₂ and 3.7–34?×?10⁷ mol CH₄. We estimated emissions from contiguous inshore waters at ～1.5?×?10¹¹ mol CO₂?year^?1 and 2.6?×?10⁸ mol CH₄?year^?1, giving total emissions of ～1.9?×?10¹¹ mol CO₂?year^?1 and ～3.0?×?10⁸ mol CH₄?year^?1 from a total area of mangrove-influenced water of ～3?×?10⁴ km². Evaluating such emissions in a range of mangrove environments is important to resolving the greenhouse gas balance of mangrove ecosystems globally. Future such studies should be integral to wider quantitative process studies of the mangrove carbon balance.     

Experimental superensemble forecasts of tropical cyclones over the Bay of Bengal

This study entails the implementation of an experimental real time forecast capability for tropical cyclones over the Bay of Bengal basin of North Indian Ocean. This work is being built on the experience gained from a number of recent studies using the concept of superensemble developed at the Florida State University (FSU). Real time hurricane forecasts are one of the major components of superensemble modeling at FSU. The superensemble approach of training followed by real time forecasts produces the best forecasts for tracks and intensity (up to 5 days) of Atlantic hurricanes and Pacific typhoons. Improvements in track forecasts of about 25–35% compared to current operational forecast models has been noted over the Atlantic Ocean basin. The intensity forecasts for hurricanes are only marginally better than the best models. In this paper, we address tropical cyclone forecasts over the Bay of Bengal for the years 1996–2000. The main result from this study is that the position and intensity errors for tropical cyclone forecasts over the Bay of Bengal from the multimodel superensemble are generally less than those of all of the participating models during 1- to 3-day forecasts. Some of the major tropical cyclones, such as the November 1996 Andhra Pradesh cyclone and October 1999 Orissa super cyclone were well handled by this superensemble approach. A conclusion from this study is that the proposed approach may be a viable way to construct improved forecasts of Bay of Bengal tropical cyclone positions and intensity.     

Amino sugars in suspended particulate matter from the Bay of Bengal during the summer monsoon of 2001

Amino sugars (AS) are important constituents of organic matter. However, very little is known about their cycling in marine waters. In this research, we assessed the distribution and cycling of these compounds in waters of the Bay of Bengal. For this purpose, samples of suspended particu late matter (SPM) were collected from 8 depths (surface to 1000 m) at 6 locations during the 166th cruise of the ORV Sagar Kanya in the Bay of Bengal in July/August 2001. The SPM samples were analysed for particulate organic carbon (POC), particulate nitrogen (PN) and AS concentrations and composition. The AS varied between 0.4 and 17.5 nmol/l. Concentrations were high in the surface waters and generally decreased with increasing depth. AS concentration decreased from the south to north. AS accounted for 0.01 to 0.71% and 0.05 to 2.37% of POC and PN, respectively. Rapid decrease in AS-C% and AS-N% with depth indicates that these compounds were preferentially degraded relative to bulk POC and PN. The composition of AS suggests that glucosamine (GLU-N) and galactosamine (GAL-N) were present in the surface SPM samples, and their abundance decreased from surface downwards. Relatively, low values of GLU-N/GAL-N ratio indicate that the organic matter was mostly derived from the detritus of micro-organisms. Our data suggest that chitin, a polymer of the glucosamine produced by many marine organisms was not the major source of AS in the Bay. Rapid cycling of these compounds indicates their importance in the cycling of nitrogen in marine waters