Dynamics of wind-driven estuarine-shelf exchange in the Narragansett Bay estuary

Pfeiffer-Herbert, Anna; Kincaid, C. R.; Bergondo, D. L.; Pockalny, R. A.

doi:10.1016/j.csr.2015.06.003

Cited by 22 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 74 publications

(134 reference statements)

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“…Depending upon species-specific temperature preferences, each then shifts toward the outer bay as the residence period progresses. The species would then be able to 'feel' and respond to the temperature of the Rhode Island nearshore as a result of estuary−shelf exchange (Pfeiffer-Herbert et al 2015) at the end of the residence period, supporting the influence on migration of shifting thermal gradients between Narragansett Bay and waters just offshore.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Climate alters the migration phenology of coastal marine species

Langan

Puggioni

Oviatt

et al. 2021

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Significant shifts in the phenology of life-cycle events have been observed in diverse taxa throughout the global oceans. While the migration phenology of marine fish and invertebrates is expected to be sensitive to climate change, the complex nature of these patterns has made measurement difficult and studies rare. With continuous weekly observations spanning 7 decades in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island (USA), the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography trawl survey provides an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the influence of climate on the migrations of marine species in the northwest Atlantic. Analyses of the survey observations of 12 species indicated that residence periods have changed by as much as 118 d, with shifts in the timing of both ingress to and egress from the coastal zone. The residence periods of warm-water species expanded while those of cold-water species contracted. Dirichlet regressions fit to the annual presence-absence patterns of each species identified interannual temperature variations, fluctuations in ocean circulation, and long-term warming all as having a significant effect on migration phenology. Additionally, temperature gradients within Narragansett Bay were shown by generalized additive models to cause detectable shifts in local spatial distributions during coastal residency. These novel findings mirror results found in the spatial domain and therefore suggest that the studied species are adapting their spatiotemporal distributions to track their thermal niche in a changing climate. If so, characterizing the spatial and temporal aspects of climate responses across species will be critical to understanding ongoing changes in marine ecosystems and successfully managing the fisheries they support.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Climate alters the migration phenology of coastal marine species

Langan

Puggioni

Oviatt

et al. 2021

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…The combined physically interactive forces, such as stratification, winds, river discharge, and tides (Kim and Park, 2012;Xia et al, 2011;MacCready et al, 2009;Xue et al, 2009;Wang et al, 2010;Valle-Levinson et al, 2001;Whitney and Garvine, 2006), govern the dynamics of estuary circulation. Winds and tides are particularly important factors that influence the exchange dynamics of estuaries and the coastal ocean (Kraines et al, 1999;Herrling and Winter, 2015;Pfeiffer-Herbert et al, 2015). Quantitative analysis of water exchange and salt flux helps to explain the dynamics of many estuaries under the effect of wind forcing, such as in Mobile Bay (Kim and Park, 2012), Perdido Bay (Xia et al, 2011), Baltic Sea and Sakgerrak Strait (Stigebrandt, 1983), and Shark Bay (Hetzel et al, 2015), while these studies were based on the simple two-layer model or highly developed numerical models with structured grids.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of water and salt exchange at Maryland Coastal Bays

Kang

Xia

Pitula

et al. 2017

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

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The exchange processes between the Maryland Coastal Bays system (MCBs) and their adjacent coastal ocean were simulated using a three-dimensional unstructured-grid based hydrodynamic model, which was validated by observed data including water level, current velocity and salinity. Idealized experiments were then carried out to investigate the impact of wind forcing on water exchange and salt flux. Through these experiments, the exchanges between the MCBs and coastal ocean were investigated at two inlets (Ocean City Inlet and Chincoteague Inlet). Given that winds and tides are two key external forces known to impact estuarine dynamics, the effect of each individual force on the exchange processes was studied to evaluate the corresponding influence on the inlet dynamics. It was found that wind forcing significantly impacts the inlet dynamics: the effect of wind directions on exchange processes under strong wind speeds is substantial; for example, northwesterly winds push flux to the southern part of the bays, while southwesterly winds pile up flux towards northern Chincoteague Bay. The effect of wind forcing on the exchange dynamics becomes stronger with the augmentation of its speed. Meanwhile, tidal forcing is the major driver of exchange dynamics at weak wind speeds (e.g., 3 m/s), and its effect on exchange process gradually weakens with stronger wind speeds (e.g., 7 m/s, 15 m/s). In addition, sensitivity tests elucidated that closing either inlet results in a significant impact on the water elevation, current velocity and salinity nearby the relevant cutoff inlet areas.

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“…First, the wind can produce a similar two‐layer flow with downwind current at surface and upwind current at depth, enhancing/reversing the gravitational circulation with a down‐estuary/up‐estuary wind stress [ Csanady , ; Winant , ]. Second, the wind can cause a depth‐independent change in the gravitational circulation by setting up a sea surface slope in the estuary, enhancing the barotropic volume exchange between the estuary and shelf [ Janzen and Wong , ; Pfeiffer‐Herbert et al ., ]. It should be noted that these effects of wind forcing may vary widely due to the estuary's geometric scales and forcing characteristics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Downwelling wind, tides, and estuarine plume dynamics

Lai

Ming-fen

et al. 2016

JGR Oceans

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The estuarine plume dynamics under a downwelling-favorable wind condition were examined in the windy dry season of the Pearl River Estuary (PRE) using the PRE primitive-equation Finite-Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM). The wind and tide-driven estuarine circulation had a significant influence on the plume dynamics on both local and remote scales. Specifically, the local effect of downwellingfavorable winds on the plume was similar to the theoretical descriptions of coastal plumes, narrowing the plume width, and setting up a vertically uniform downstream current at the plume edge. Tides tended to reduce these plume responses through local turbulent mixing and advection from upstream regions, resulting in an adjustment of the isohalines in the plume and a weakening of the vertically uniform downstream current. The remote effect of downwelling-favorable winds on the plume was due to the wind-induced estuarine sea surface height (SSH), which strengthened the estuarine circulation and enhanced the plume transport accordingly. Associated with these processes, tide-induced mixing tended to weaken the SSH gradient and thus the estuarine circulation over a remote influence scale. Overall, the typical features of downwelling-favorable wind-driven estuarine plumes revealed in this study enhanced our understanding of the estuarine plume dynamics under downwelling-favorable wind conditions.

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Dynamics of wind-driven estuarine-shelf exchange in the Narragansett Bay estuary

Cited by 22 publications

References 74 publications

Climate alters the migration phenology of coastal marine species

Climate alters the migration phenology of coastal marine species

Dynamics of water and salt exchange at Maryland Coastal Bays

Downwelling wind, tides, and estuarine plume dynamics

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