a result there Is a unilateral flow of vater rrom tne Indian Ocean 

 to the Pacific Ocean. Moreover_, on the Atlantic side there is a 

 constant inflow of water into the Indian Ocean where it is rapidly- 

 transformed. 



Antarctic Bottom Water enters the Indian Ocean at about 50*3 

 latitude and proceeds northward on the east and west sides of the 

 Central Indian Ridge. At approximately 10°S latitude the "bottom 

 vater rises to upper levels and is mixed considerably with the deep 

 waters which are sinking here and its main mass returns to the south 

 in a deep stream. A smaller part of the bottom water flows north 

 Into the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea after having been con- 

 siderably transformed. Here it rises to shoaler depths and returns 

 south in the intermediate current. 



A study of the southwest Indian Ocean by Le Pichon^ includes 

 an area between 20° and 70°E longitude and 20° and 50°S latitude. 

 This region is bounded on the south by the Antarctic convergence. 

 It wa.s found that below 2^000 meters the whole deep water circulation 

 is influenced by the inflow of Atlantic Deep Water. Above 2,000 

 meters water of North Indian origin is fed by the Agulhas Current 

 through the Mozambique Channel. These two inflows with possible 

 addition of North Indian Ocean Deep Water contribute to the forma- 

 tion of a homogeneous water mass which occupies the depths of the 

 Madagascar Basin. The bottom topography plays a very important role 

 in this area because the Agulhas Current and its return current are 

 deep currents. Antarctic Bottom Water enters the basin situated 

 between Africa and the Madagascar Ridge. Antarctic Bottom Water 



■"■Xavier Le Pichon, "The Deep Water Circulation in the Southwest 

 Indian Ocean/' Journal of Geophysical Research (Dec. I960), pp. ■^06l- 



40T^. 



49 



