The Indian Ocean gyre, located in the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...
, is one of the five major
oceanic gyres, large systems of rotating
ocean current
An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of sea water generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind, the Coriolis effect, breaking waves, cabbeling, and temperature and salinity differences. Depth contou ...
s, which together form the backbone of the
global conveyor belt. The Indian Ocean gyre is composed of two major currents: the
South Equatorial Current, and the
West Australian Current.
Normally moving counter-clockwise, in the winter the Indian Ocean gyre
reverses direction due to the seasonal winds of the
South Asian Monsoon. In the summer, the land is warmer than the ocean, so surface winds blow from the ocean to the land. However, during the winter, these temperatures reverse, making the winds blow from the land to the ocean. Because most of the air pressure gradient is retained behind the
Tibetan plateau
The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau in India, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South and East Asia covering most of the ...
, air pressure gradients over the Indian Ocean and the gyre are small. This results in winds of moderate strength, due to the protection from the full force winds blowing off the Mongolian high pressure region. Because of these moderate, dry winds, the Winter Monsoon season in the Indian Ocean region is the dry season for most of
Southern Asia. Due to this seasonal wind cycle, the currents of the Indian Ocean, which make up the Indian Ocean gyre, are directly affected, causing reversal.
[Tomczak, Matthias & J. Stuart Godfrey: Regional Oceanography: and Introduction 2nd Edition. (2003). ]
Garbage patch
References
External links
Ocean currents
{{Ocean
Oceanic gyres
Indian Ocean