Within a range of about 100 km, two perennial rivers, Krishna and Godavari discharge fresh waters in the Bay of Bengal on the east coast of India during the southwest monsoon. However, it is intriguing that the surface salinity in the available in-situ observations is much less offshore compared to the region where the rivers discharge. To ascertain and elucidate this novel feature, a three-dimensional Princeton Ocean Model has been configured for the east coast of India, as the differential distribution of fresh water and the associated stability discrepancies induce complex scenarios such as of thermal inversions and barrier features. The model uses temperature and salinity information from WOA01 and is forced with QuickSCAT/ NCEP wind stress. Assisted by the curvature of the coastline, south of Machilipatnam, the surface circulation redistributes the fresh water from the two rivers as well as the low saline influx from the huge river system from north; resulting in anomalous pool(s) of low salinity waters away from the coast which is endorsed by the available CTD data.

Bay of Bengal, ocean circulation, freshwater, low salinity plume, WOA01.