Circulation of the Red Sea in early summer

Abstract

The distribution of temperature, salinity and density for the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in June of 1958 suggests that evaporation exerts a greater influence on the circulation of the Red Sea than does the shifting wind pattern emphasized by Thompson (1939a, b,). This view is supported by evaporation rates for the Red Sea presented by J. Neumann (1952) and Privett (1959). A surface inflow from the Gulf of Aden was observed entering the Red Sea, i.e., from the direction opposite to the prevailing NNW winds of summer. A prominent outflow of warm, saline Red Sea water extends into the Gulf of Aden beneath this surface inflow. In June, the dense, isothermal, isohaline water that fills the Red Sea basin below sill depth appears to be entrapped there, exchange with the Gulf of Aden being restricted to shallower levels. Oxygen and phosphate distribution profiles support the thermo-haline circulation proposed. Red Sea water can be traced well into the Indian Ocean, as illustrated by a T-S diagram (Fig. 7).