Andaman Sea

Andaman Sea

Andaman Sea is a semi-enclosed sea of the Indian Ocean, between the Indochina and Malacca peninsulas to the east, the island of Sumatra to the south, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (which separate from the Bay of Bengal) to the west. A great place for diving. In the north extends to the delta of the Irrawaddy River. The Strait of Malacca connects with the South China Sea. The area of 605 thousand km², average depth of 1043 m, maximum depth of 4507 m, average water volume of about 660 thousand km³. The bottom is lined with clays and sands, from north to south it is crossed by an active volcanic arc (submarine volcanoes, Barren and Narcondam Islands).

General Information

The climate is tropical, humid, monsoonal. The temperature at the surface is from 27.5 °C in winter to 30 °C in summer, in the deep layers (deeper than 1600 m) up to 4.8-5 °C. Precipitation is more than 3000 mm per year.

Currents in winter are directed to the southwest and west, in summer – to the east and southeast. It is characterized by large-scale internal waves.

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The average water temperature is 26 to 28 °C in February, up to 29 °C in May. Salinity in summer 31.5-32.5 ‰, in winter 30.0-33.0 ‰, in the northern part under the influence of river runoff and monsoons drops to 20-25 ‰. Tides are semi-diurnal, their magnitude up to 7.2 m.

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Rich fauna (about 400 species of fish), Irrawaddy dolphin, dugong, flying fish, southern herring, reef fish, sailfish and others. Fishing (Indian mackerel, anchovies, etc.) is developed.

The main ports are Yangon (Myanmar), Penang (Malaysia).A shipping route to Singapore passes through the sea.

In December 2004, a devastating earthquake occurred in the sea, causing a tsunami.