A young lens of Red Sea Water in the Arabian Sea

CTD data collected in March–April 1980 in the Arabian Sea during the 22nd cruise of R.V. Akademik Vernadsky were used to investigate the structure and dynamics of a young lens of Red Sea Water (Reddy) in the initial stage of its formation. The core of the young lens with maximum temperature of 11.07°C and maximum salinity of 35.56 was located at depths of 640–830 m, and had temperature and salinity anomalies of 0.75°C and 0.22 with respect to the background water. The lens core, of thickness of 190 m, was connected to the main Red Sea Water tongue by a thin layer with vertical extent of about 20 m. In contrast to Meddies frequently observed in the North Atlantic, the density anomaly of the Reddy did not exceed 0.04 kg · m-3. A trajectory of the lens movement was reconstructed. The dynamic impact of a deep-reaching cyclonic meander on the large-scale tongue of Red Sea Water resulted in the Reddy formation near 16°N, 61°E and its subsequent movement to the south over a distance of about 370 km.