In the North Indian Ocean, there is a complete reversal of the direction of ocean currents between summer and winter. Which of the following factors is primarily responsible for this phenomenon?

Solution

In the North Indian Ocean, there is a complete reversal of the direction of currents between summer and winter. In summer from June to October, when the dominant wind is the South-West Monsoon, the currents are blown from a south-westerly direction as the South-West Monsoon Drift. This is reversed in winter, when the North-East Monsoon blows the ocean current from the north-east as the North-East Monsoon Drift. This demonstrates the dominating effect of winds on the circulation of ocean currents.