Investigating the downwelling of Persian Gulf Water in the Gulf of Oman

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

1 PhD of physical oceanography, Department of Nonliving Resources of Atmosphere and Ocean, Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran; Department of physics, Education office of Hormozgan Province, Education Ministry, Parsiyan, Iran

2 Assistant Professor of physical oceanography, Department of Nonliving Resources of Atmosphere and Ocean, Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran

3 Department of physics, Education office of Khoozestan Province, Education Ministry, Ahwaz, Iran

Abstract

In Gulf of Oman, the sinking of Persian Gulf Water mass has been reported. In the current study, the FVCOM ocean model has been used in 20 layers to investigate the phenomenon of downwelled Persian Gulf Water in the Gulf of Oman. The bathymetry of the simulated area (47˚-59.45˚E, 22˚-32˚N) was achieved from GEBCO-2019 by the resolution of 30 seconds. Triangular grid was generated in SMS. The open boundary fluctuations were also extracted from TMD. The temperature and salinity were obtained from the output of HYCOM (standard depths). Satellite data were used for the verification. The results showed the downward vertical velocity of Persain Gulf Water is higher in the area of the sudden depth change than the other parts in all seasons. This fact indicated the downwelled water was in a form of a spot. The rate of downwards penetration of water was different (winter: -2cm/s, spring: -1cm/s, summer: -1.2cm/s, autumn: -1.7cm/s). In summer, the salinity contours were very close to each other in the east of the Strait of Hormuz, or intense stratification. Therefore, the slope of the salt wedge was less. In winter, the calculated slope of the salt wedge (1.5×10-1 degrees) was greater than summer (3.8×10-2 degrees). The larger angle or slope of the salt wedge means the greater horizontal component of the weight of water (mgsinθ). It causes the displacement of saline water, and faster movement of Persian Gulf Water. Therefore, the water of the Persian Gulf moves faster to lower depths in Gulf of Oman in winter than summer

Keywords

This is an open access article under the CC BY license

References

  1. Brown E., Colling A., Park D., Phillips J., Rothery , and Wright J. (2004), Ocean Circulation. 2nd ed. Boston Johannesburg: Jointly published by the Open University.
  2. Johannessen O.M., Subharaju G. and Blindhelm J. (1981), Seasonal variation of the oceanographic conditions off the southwest coast of India during 1972-75. Fiskeridirektoratets Skrifter Serie Havunders kelser, Vol.18, p.247-261.
  3. Mathew B. (1983), Studies on upwelling and sinking in the seas around India. University of Cochin, Cochin. PhD Thesis. p. 159
  4. Shetye S.R., Gouveia A.D., Shenoi S.S.C., Sundar D., Michael G.S., Almeida A.M., and Santanam K., (1990), Hydrography and circulation off the west coast of India during the south-west monsoon 1987. Journal of Marine Research, Vol.48(2), p.359-78.
  5. Hareesh Kumar P.V. and Basil M. (1997), Salinity distribution in the Arabian sea. Indian Journal of Marine Science, Vol.26(1), p.272-77.
  6. Mathew B., Sanilkumar K.V., Hareesh Kumar P.V., Madhusoodanan P. and James V.V. (1992), Thermohaline and current structure off Cochin during December 1986. Indian Journal of Marine Science, Vol.20, p.244-48.
  7. Zhou S., and Flynn P.C. (2005), Geoengineering Downwelling Ocean Currents: A Cost Assessment. Climatic Change. Vol.71, 203–220. doi.org/10.1007/s10584-005-5933-0
  8. Sadrinasab M. (2009), Three-dimensional numerical modeling study of the coastal upwelling in the Persian Gulf. Research Journal of Environmental Science. Vol.3(5), 560-566.
  9. McCreary J.P., Kundu P.K., and Molinari R.L. (1993), A numerical investigation of dynamics, thermodynamics and mixed-layer processes in the Indian Ocean, Progress in Oceanography, Vol.31(3), 181–244, doi.org/10.1016/0079-6611(93)90002-U.
  10. Shetye S.R., Suresh I., Shankar D., Sundar D., Jayakumar S., Mehra P., Prabhudesai R.G., and Pednekar P.S. (2008), Observational evidence for remote forcing of the West India Coastal Current, Journal of Geophysical Research,113, p.C11001, doi.org/10.1029/2008JC004874.
  11. Shankar D. (1998), Low-frequency variability of sea level along the coast of India. PhD thesis, Goa University, Goa, India
  12. Shankar D., Vinayachandran P. and Unnikrishnan A.S. (2002), The monsoon currents in the north Indian Ocean. Progress in Oceanography, Vol.52, p.63–120.
  13. Shankar, Remya R., Vinayachandran P.N., Chaterjee A., and Behera A. (2016), Ihibition of mix-layer deepining during winter in the north-estern Arabian Sea by the west India Coastal Current. Climate Dynamics, 47, 1049-1072. doi: 10.1007/s00382-015-2888-3.
  14. Vijith V., Vinayachandran P.N., Thushara V., Amol, P., Shankar D., and Anil A.C. (2016), Consequences of inhibition of mixed-layer deepening bythe West India Coastal Current for winter phytoplankton bloom in the northeastern Arabian Sea, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol. 121, p.6583–6603, doi:10.1002/2016JC012004.
  15. Pous S., Carton X., and Lazure P. (2004), Hydrology and circulation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman—Results from the GOGP99 Experiment: 1.Strait of Hormuz. Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans. 109(C12). doi:10.1016/0016/2003JC002145 .
  16. Reynolds R.M. (1993), Physical oceanography of the Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and the Gulf of Oman—Results from the Mt Mitchell expedition. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 27, 35-59.
  17. Soyufjahromi M. (2023). The spatial and temporal monitoring of the sea surface temperature anomaly of the Strait of Hormuz. International Journal Of Coastal and Offshore, And Environmental Engineering, accepted manuscripted. Available on line: 2023-01-16.
  18. Akbari P. Sadrinasab M. Chegini V. and Siadatmousavi M. (2016). Tidal constituents in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea: a numerical study. Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences. 45(8), 1010-1016.
  19. Soyuf Jahromi M. and Emami M. (2021). The role of different positions of tidal turbines for energy extraction in Qeshm channel.International Journal Of Coastal, Offshore And Environmental Engineering, 6(5), 1-9.
  20. Yao F. and Johns W.E. (2010), A HYCOM modeling study of the Persian Gulf: 2. Formation and export of Persian Gulf Water. Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans. 115(C11). doi:1029/2009JC005788.
  21. Chen C., Beardsley R., Cowles G., Qi J., Lai Z., Gao J., Stuebe D., Xu Q., Xue P., Ge J., Hu S., Ji R., Tian R., Huang H., Wu L., Lin H., Sun Y. and Zhao L. (2013), An Unstructured Grid, Finite-Volume Community Ocean Model FVCOM User Manual. FVCOM user manual, 416p.
  22. Chen C., Beardsley R.C. and Cowles G. (2006), An unstructured grid, finite-volume coastal ocean model: FVCOM User Manual. SMAST/UMASSD Technical Report-06-0602, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, New Bedford.
  23. Li B., Tanaka K.R., Chen Y., Brady D.C. and Thomas, A.C. (2017), Assessing the quality of bottom water temperatures from the Finite-Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM) in the Northwest Atlantic Shelf region. Journal of Marine Systems, 173, 21-30.
  24. IOC, IHO and BODC, (2003), Centenary Edition of the GEBCO Digital Atlas, PUblished on CD-ROM on behalf of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commissioner and the International Hydrographic Organisation as part of the General Bathymetric Chart of the Ocean. British Oceanographic data center, Liverpool.
  25. Brigham Young university, (2011), SMS-Surface Water Modeling System Reference Manual Version 10. Brigham young university-Enviromental Modeling Reference Laboratory, Provo, UT
  26. http://www.aquaveo.com
  27. http://www.gebco.net
  28. https://hycom.org
  29. The MathWorks Inc., (2016), MATLAB and Statistics Toolbox 64-bit, Version 2016a, Release 2016a, Natick, Massachusetts, USA.
  30. MetOffice, (2018), The Operational Sea Surface Temperature and Sea Ice Analysis (OSTIA) system https://www.ecmwf.int/sites/default/files/elibrary/2018/17975-operational-sea-surface-temperature-and-ice-analysis-ostia-system.pdf
  31. Thoppil P.G., and Hogan P.J., (2009), On the mechanisms of episodic salinity outflow events in the Strait of Hormuz. Journal of Physical Oceanography 39(6), 1340–1360.
  32. Bower A.S., Hunt H.D. and Price J.F. (2000), Character and dynamics of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf outflows. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 105(C3), 6387-6414.
  33. Ezam M., Bidokhti A.A. and Javid, A.H., (2010), Numerical simulations of spreading of the Persian Gulf outflow into the Oman Sea. Ocean Science., 6, 887–900, 2010.
  34. Khalilabadi M., (2015), Three-dimensional simulation of water circulation in Oman Sea using MITgcm model, Hydrophysics, Vol.2 (1), p.61-68.
  35. Johns, W. E., Yao, F., Olson, D. B., Josey, S. A., Grist, J. P., and Smeed, D. A. (2003). Observations of seasonal exchange through the Straits of Hormuz and the inferred heat and freshwater budgets of the Persian Gulf. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol.108(C12).
  36. Azizpour J., Siyadat Mousavi Seyed Mostafa Siadat Mousavi S.M., and Chegini V. (2015). Study of Physical Oceanographic Parameters in the Strait of Hormuz, Hydrophysics, Vol.1(1), p.15-24.
  37. Ramak, H., Soyufjahromi, M., and Akbari, P. (2022). Using surface temperature data of the Oman Sea to identify subsurface water of the Persian Gulf. Hydrophysics, Vol.7(2), accepted manuscripted. Available on line: 2022-11-19.
  38. Ramak H, Soyufjahromi M, Akbari P. (2022). Persian Gulf Water mass tracking by surface temperature and salinity properties. Journal of Oceanography, Vol.12 (48), p.13-28.
  39. Ramak H, Soyufjahromi M, Akbari P. (2023). Investigation of salinity and temperature of Persian Gulf water by FVCOM Model. Journal of Oceanography, accepted manuscripted, 2022-11-19.
  40. L'Hégaret, P., Carton, X., Louazel, S., & Boutin, G. (2016). Mesoscale eddies and submesoscale structures of Persian Gulf Water off the Omani coast in spring 2011. Ocean Science, Vol.12(3), p.687-701.
  41. Ramek H, Soyufjahormi M, Akbari. P, (2023). Investigation of physical properties of Persian Gulf water exchange using FVCOM Model. Journal of oceanography, accepted manuscript 2022.

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics