Chinese scientists say their model can predict dangerous ‘internal waves’ in Andaman Sea

The waves are so strong they can sink submarines, and the study findings could help to improve safety and combat capabilities

More than half of China’s foreign trade passes through the nearby Strait of Malacca and its naval activity has increased in the area

Reading Time:3 minutes

Some of the world’s largest “internal waves” occur in the Andaman Sea. Photo: Nasa Earth Observatory

Published: 11:00am, 12 Aug 2021Updated: 10:01pm, 12 Aug 2021

A Chinese team studying “internal waves” so strong they can sink submarines in the Andaman Sea say they have developed a computer model to predict when and where the worst ones are likely to happen.

They focused on a particular area of the sea, where some of the world’s largest internal waves – or sudden changes in ocean density – occur, near the western end of the Strait of Malacca.

The researchers from the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Guangzhou set out to understand how the internal waves formed and developed, a process they said was more complex in the Andaman Sea than elsewhere.

This understanding could potentially help to improve submarine safety and combat capabilities like communication, target tracking and torpedo strikes.

The team found that some initial waves started from the southeastern shores of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands that separate the sea from the Indian Ocean, according to their paper published in Chinese journal Scientia Sinica Terrae on Monday.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x