|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Bay of Bengal is a bay that forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered on the east by Malay Peninsula, and on the west by India. On the northern tip of the "bay" lies the Bengal region, comprising the Indian state of West Bengal and the country of Bangladesh, thus the name. The southern extremes reach the island country of Sri Lanka, and the Indian Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Bay of Bengal occupies an area of 2,172,000 sq kms. It is bordered by India and Sri Lanka to the West, Bangladesh to the North, and Myanmar and the southern part of Thailand to the East. Its southern boundary extends as an imaginary line from Dondra Head at the southern end of Sri Lanka to the northern tip of Sumatra. A number of large rivers – Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna and Cauvery – flow into the Bay of Bengal. Among the important ports are Yangon, Kolkata/Calcutta, Cuddalore, Kakinada, Machlipatnam, Madras, Paradip and Vishakapatnam.
Etymlogy
Bengal comes from the Sanskrit Banga or Vanga and refers to the Gangetic delta waters. There is mythology which relates the area given to the Lunar race of Delhi.[2][3] RiversMany major rivers of India flow west to east into the Bay of Bengal: in the north, the Ganges River (or Ganga), 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 Sundarbans mangrove forest is formed at the delta of the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers on the Bay of Bengal. The Ayeyarwady River of Myanmar also flows into the bay. Image:Fishing boat on Bay of Bengal.JPG Fishing boats on the Bay of Bengal
Seaports
IslandsImage:St Martin Island on Bay of Bengal.JPG St.Martin Island, Bay of Bengal The islands in the bay are very numerous, including the Andaman, Nicobar and Mergui groups. 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.
BeachesImage:Bakkhali Beach.jpg Seaside Resort of Bakhkhali Beach Cox's Bazar, on the northeastern coast of the bay, is one of the longest unbroken natural beaches of the world. Other beaches along the bay are Bakkhali, Digha, Chandipur, Puri, Waltair, Marina Beach at Chennai and Ngapali beach in Myanmar.
OceanographyOceanography is the study of oceans and the ocean floor by scientific exploration and scientific methods. The Bay of Bengal is a salt water sea and is a part of the Indian Ocean. Plate tectonicsImage:Tectsetting lg.gif Western Sunda Arc and Trench showing tectonic and seismic activity. Image:Plates tect2 en.svg Floor of Bay of Bengal The Indian plate, shown in red The Indo-Australian plate, shown in dull orange Image:Indian Plate map-fr.png Tectonic plates under the Bay of Bengal close up (fr) Image:Volcanic Arc System.png Volcanic Arc System: Nicobar Islands & Andaman Islands The lithosphere of the earth is broken up into what are called tectonic plates. Underneath the Bay of Bengal is the The India 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 Tsunamai. [4]
Image:Oceanic-oceanic convergence Fig21oceanocean.gif Indo-Australian plate / Burma Plate Oceanic/Oceanic Convergence Marine geologyA zone 50m 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 ioo fathom line of sea bottom; some 50 m. beyond this lies the Soo-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 14km-wide deep sea canyon of the Bay of Bengal. The deepest recorded area of this valley is about 1340m.[5] Marine biology, flora and faunaThe 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.[6] An endagnered 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. [7][8] The Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve proides 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. [9][10] Coral beautifies the underwater area around Nicobar Islands, and the Andaman Islands
Chemical oceanographySri Lanka, Serendib, or Ratna – Dweepa which means Gem Island. Amethyst ,beryl, rubies, sapphires, topazes, and garnet are just some of the gems of Sri Lanka. Physical oceanography - Climate of the Bay of BengalFrom 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 conterclockwise 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.[11] Tropical storms and cyclonesImage:Tropical Cyclone 2B (2000).jpg Tropical Cyclone 2B -May 2002
Sacred sites
EconomyImage:European settlements in India 1501-1739.png British and other European settlements along Bay of Bengal coastline Image:TransPeninsula001.jpg Map of early Sea Trade Route (in red) and the Early transpeninsula routeways of the Bay of Bengal. One of the first trading ventures along the Bay of Bengal was the The Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies more commonly referred to as British East India Company. Gopalpur was one of their main trading centers. Other trading companies along the Bay of Bengal shorelines were English East India Company and French East India Company.[17] BIMSTEC Bay of Bengal Initiative for MultiSectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) supports free trade internationally around the Bay of Bengal between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. The Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project is a new venture proposed which would create a channel for a shipping route to link the Gulf of Mannar with the Bay of Bengal. This would connect India east to west without the necessity of going around Sri Lanka. Thoni and catamaran fishing boats of fishing villages thrive along the Bay of Bengal shorelines. Fishermen can catch between 26-44 species of marine fish.[18] In one year, the average catch is 2 million tons of fish from the Bay of Bengal alone.[19]
Environmental hazardsPollution"Asian Brown Cloud" hangs over the Bay of Bengal. It is considered to be a combination of vechicle exhaust, smoke from cooking fires, and industrial discharges.[20] HistoryImage:Himalaya-formation.gif Due to continental drift, the India Plate split from Madagascar and collided with the Eurasian Plate resulting in the formation of the Himalayas and The Bay of Bengal. Image:PtomelyAsiaDetail.jpg Bay of Bengal (Gangeticus Sinus on the left) from Ptolemy's geography. Redrawn in the 15th century. Northern Circars occupied the western coast of the Bay of Bengal and is now considered to be India's Madras state. The Kakatiya dynasty reached the western coastline of the Bay of Bengal between the Godavari and the Krishna rivers. Kushanas about the about the middle of the 1st century AD invaded northern India perhaps extending as far as the Bay of Bengal. Chola dynasty (9th century to 12th century) when ruled by Rajaraja Chola I occupied the western coastline of the Bay of Bengal c.1014 C.E. Chandragupta Maurya extended the Maurya Dynasty across Northern India to the Bay of Bengal. Hajipur was a stronghold of Portuguese Pirates. In the 1500's the Portuguese built trading posts in the North of the Bay of Bengal at Chittagong (Porto Grande) and Satgaon (Porto Pequeno).[21]
British penal colonyCellular Jail or "Black Waters" built in 1896 on Ross Island, a part of the Andaman Island Chain. As early as 1858 this island was used as a British penal colony for politial prisoners facing life imprisonment. Marine ArcheologyMaritime archaeology or marine archaeology is the study of material remains of ancient peoples. A specialized branch, Archaeology of shipwrecks studies the salvaged artifacts of ancient ships. Stone anchors, amphorae sherds, elephant tusks, hippopotamus teeth, ceramic pottery , a rare wood mast and lead ingots are examples which may survive the test of time for archaeologists to study and place the salvaged findings into a time line of history. Coral reefs, tsuanamis, cyclones, mangrove swamps, battles and a criss cross of sea routes in a high trading area combined with pirating have all contributed to shipwrecks in the Bay of Bengal. [22] Famous ships and shipwrecks
See alsoTrivia
References
External Links
SourcesThis article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
bg:Бенгалски залив ca:Golf de Bengala da:Bengalske Bugt de:Golf von Bengalen et:Bengali laht es:Golfo de Bengala fr:Golfe du Bengale ko:벵골 만 hi:बंगाल की खाड़ी id:Teluk Benggala is:Bengalflói it:Golfo del Bengala he:מפרץ בנגל sw:Ghuba ya Bengali | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
