Contribution of Tides and of Excess Evaporation to the Water Exchange Between the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman PDF

Keywords

Arabian Gulf, evaporation, Gulf of Oman

Abstract

Both the residence time of water in the Arabian Gulf defined as the length of time required for the volume of water entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz to completely equal the volume of water in the Gulf and the renewal period defined as the length of time required for the volume of new water from the Gulf of Oman to equal the volume of water in the Gulf are the shortest for any body of water of similar dimensions. Important among the factors contributing to these periods are the tidal exchange and the excess evaporation. Tidal exchange was modelled by using the four components M2, S2, K1 and O1. The excess evaporation was estimated using meteorological data and river discharge. It is found that tides are potentially able to account for the shortness of the periods. The residence time was found to be less than one year, while the renewal time was found to be between 1.5 and 4.5 years with a mean of about three years