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Abstract

Spiciness is the orthogonal variations of temperature and salinity along the isopycnal and varies with warmth and saltiness of seawater. Variability in any of these parameters leads to change in spiciness. In the Arabian sea, the reduction in upwelling was observed due to decreasing wind speed, which raises the sea surface temperature (SST) and intrusion of spicy waters from the Red sea and the Persian Gulf acting as a barrier to the mixing in top layers, especially in May. As a consequence, we noticed an increase in the heat content. In case of Bay of Bengal, the increase in fresh water flux due to various reasons influencing the spiciness. Though both basins are in the same latitudinal belts, intrusion of spicy waters causing the vertical convective mixing and further leads to the rise in heat content of the upper layers is noticed in the Arabian sea in the recent years. Whereas in the Bay of Bengal the influx of fresh water which may reduce the spiciness and cause saline stratification leads to increase in heat content. So, changes in spiciness leads to the remarkable changes in the heat content over the North Indain Ocean. Recent model results shows that increase and decreasing trends in spicieness over the North Indian Ocean region leads to major changes in the upper ocean processes in future.