tW.eanalyztehesurfac•e5•8-0salinitryelationshiopfstheBayofBengalndtheAra- bianSea,inthenorthernIndianOcean,knownfortheircontrastinghydrologicaclonditionsN.ew measuremeonftshesteracershowaverylow•5•80- salinitsylopeassociatwediththestrong dilutionintheBayof Bengal,butaslopemoretypicalofthislatitudeintheArabianSea.Al- thoughthisregionis markedby a complexmonsoonarlegime,numericalmodelingusinga box modealndageneraclirculatiomnodeilsabletocapturtehe•5•S-Osalinitsylopeanditsgeo- graphicvaalriationB.othmodelcslearlsyhowthathelow•5•S-Osalinitsylopeisduetothe evaporation-minus-precipitatiboanlance,with an importantcontributionof the continentarlunoff intheBayofBengal.Althoughthelowvalueoftheseslopes(-0.25) makespastsalinityrecon- structionsuncertain,insightintotheLastGlacialMaximumconditionshowsa probablestability of theseslopesandlimitederroronpaleosalinity.