Bay of Bengal

Etymology

The Bay of Bengal at the beach of Gopalpur.

The Bay of Bengal appears as Sinus Gangeticus or Gangeticus Sinus, meaning "Gulf of the Ganges", in ancient maps. In the 10th century the explosion of Indianized kingdoms, led by the Chola Empire, resulted in the Bay of Bengal being known as the Chola Lake. It later came to be known as Bay of Bengal in after the region of Bengal.

Rivers

Many major rivers of the Indian subcontinent flow west to east through Bangladesh into the Bay of Bengal: in the north, the Padma River (or Ganges), Meghna River and Brahmaputra River rivers, and in the south Mahanadi River through the Mahanadi River Delta, Godavari River, Krishna river, Irrawaddy and Kaveri River (sometimes written as Cauvery) rivers. The shortest classified river which drains into the Bay of Bengal is Cooum River at 64 km (40 mi). Brahmaputra is the 28th longest River in the World 2,948 km (1,832 mi), and it discharges into the 'Bay of Bengal' and travels mainly through China, Assam and Bangladesh. The Sundarbans mangrove forest is formed at the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers on the Bay of Bengal. The Ayeyarwady River of Myanmar also flows into the bay and once had thick mangrove forest of its own.

Islands

The islands in the bay are very numerous, including the Andaman Islands, Nicobar and Mergui groups of India. The group of islands, Cheduba and others, in the north-east, off the Burmese coast, are remarkable for a chain of mud volcanoes, which are occasionally active. Great Andaman is the main archipelago or island group of the Andaman Islands, whereas Ritchie's Archipelago consists of smaller islands. Only 37 of the 572 islands and islets of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are inhabited, or 6.5%.

Beaches

Cox's Bazar, the longest stretch of beach in the world.

Sunrise at Kuakata

Sunset at Kuakata

Kuakata beach in Bangaldesh, one of the sea beaches of Bay of Bengal where from same location both sunrise and sunset at sea can be observed. Puri in Orissa, India has a beautiful beach from where both sunrise and sunset can be seen.

Sea Beach	Location
Cox's Bazar	Bangladesh
Kuakata	Bangladesh
St. Martin's Island	Bangladesh
Bakkhali	India
Digha	India
Mandarmani	India
Chandipur	India
Puri	India
Waltair	India
Marina Beach	India
Ngapali	Burma
Arugram	Sri Lanka

Oceanography

The Bay of Bengal is a salt water sea and is a part of the Indian Ocean.

Plate tectonics

Floor of Bay of Bengal

  The Indian plate, shown in red

  The Indo-Australian plate, shown in dull orange

The lithosphere of the earth is broken up into what are called tectonic plates. Underneath the Bay of Bengal is the Indian Plate which is part of the great Indo-Australian Plate and is slowly moving north east. This plate meets the Burma Microplate at the Sunda Trench. The Nicobar Islands, and the Andaman Islands are part of the Burma Microplate. The India Plate subducts beneath the Burma Plate at the Sunda Trench or Java Trench. Here, the pressure of the two plates on each other increase pressure and temperature resulting in the formation of volcanoes such as the volcanoes in Myanmar, and a volcanic arc called the Sunda Arc. Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and Asian Tsunami was a result of the pressure at this zone causing a submarine earthquake which then resulted in a huge Tsunami.

Marine geology

A zone 50 m wide extending from the island of Ceylon and the Coromandel coast to the head of the bay, and thence southwards through a strip embracing the Andaman and Nicobar islands, is bounded by the 100 fathom line of sea bottom; some 50 m. beyond this lies the 500-fathom limit. Opposite the mouth of the Ganges, however, the intervals between these depths are very much extended by deltaic influence.

Swatch of No Ground is a 14 km-wide deep sea canyon of the Bay of Bengal. The deepest recorded area of this valley is about 1340 m. The submarine canyon is part of the Bengal Fan, the largest submarine fan in the world

Marine biology, flora and faun

The Sunderbans bordering the Bay of Bengal is the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world.

The Bay of Bengal is full of biological diversity, diverging amongst coral reefs, estuaries, fish spawning and nursery areas, and mangroves. The Bay of Bengal is one of the World's 64 largest marine ecosystems.

Kerilia jerdonii is a sea snake of the Bay of Bengal. Glory of Bengal Cone (Conus bengalensis) is just one of the seashells which can be photographed along beaches of the Bay of Bengal.[13] An endangered species, the Olive Ridley sea turtle can survive because of the nesting grounds made available at the Gahirmatha Marine Wildlife Sanctuary, Gahirmatha Beach, Orissa, India. Marlin, barracuda, skipjack tuna, (Katsuwonus pelamis), yellowfin tuna, Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphin (Sousa chinensis), and Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera edeni) are a few of the marine animals. Bay of Bengal Hogfish (Bodianus neilli) is a type of Wrass which live in turbid lagoon reefs or shallow coastal reefs. Schools of dolphins can be seen, whether they are the bottle nose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), Pantropical spotted dolphin (Stenella attenuata) or the spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) . Tuna and dolphins are usually residing in the same waters. In shallower and warmer coastal waters the Irrawaddy Dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris) can be found.

The Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve provides sanctuary to many animals some of which include the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), giant Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), and Malayan box turtle (Cuora amboinensis kamaroma) to name a few.

Another endangered species Royal Bengal Tiger is supported by Sundarbans a large estuarine delta that holds a mangrove area in the Ganges River Delta.
Chemical oceanography

Coastal regions bordering the Bay of Bengal are rich in minerals. Sri Lanka, Serendib, or Ratna – Dweepa which means Gem Island. Amethyst, beryl, ruby, sapphire, topaz, and garnet are just some of the gems of Sri Lanka. Garnet and other precious gems are also found in abundance in the Indian states of Orissa and

Andhra Pradesh.
Physical oceanography - climate of the Bay of Bengal

From January to October, the current is northward flowing, and the clockwise circulation pattern is called the "East Indian Current." The Bay of Bengal monsoon moves in a northwest direction striking the Nicobar Islands, and the Andaman Islands first end of May, then the North Eastern Coast of India by end of June.

The remainder of the year, the counterclockwise current is southwestward flowing, and the circulation pattern is called the East Indian Winter Jet. September and December see very active weather, season varsha (or monsoon), in the Bay of Bengal producing severe Cyclones which affect Eastern India. Several efforts have been initiated to cope with Storm surge