1996
DOI: 10.1029/95jc03024
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The fate of river discharge on the continental shelf: 1. Modeling the river plume and the inner shelf coastal current

Abstract: We study the development and evolution of buoyant river plumes on the continental shelf. Our calculations are based on three-dimensional numerical simulations, where the river runoff is introduced as a volume of zero salinity water in the continuity equation and mixing is provided by the model's turbulence closure scheme and wind forcing.In the absence of wind forcing the modeled fiver plumes typically consist of an offshore bulge and a coastal current in the direction of Kelvin wave propagation. We propose a … Show more

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Cited by 271 publications
(226 citation statements)
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“…Weak southward flow inshore of plumes has been observed in model results [e.g., Kourafalou et al, 1996a] and is usually attributed to frictional effects; i.e., along-shelf flow responds first on the inner shelf to shifts in wind direction. Although this is also the case for the Columbia region (not shown), the southward flow commonly observed inshore of the Columbia plume is more consistent with the existence of geostrophic flow around the plume.…”
Section: Discussion and Summarymentioning
confidence: 99%
See 1 more Smart Citation
“…Weak southward flow inshore of plumes has been observed in model results [e.g., Kourafalou et al, 1996a] and is usually attributed to frictional effects; i.e., along-shelf flow responds first on the inner shelf to shifts in wind direction. Although this is also the case for the Columbia region (not shown), the southward flow commonly observed inshore of the Columbia plume is more consistent with the existence of geostrophic flow around the plume.…”
Section: Discussion and Summarymentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Models predict enhancement of surface Ekman flow within the plume [Kourafalou et al, 1996a]. Cross-isobath currents in the upper 5 m of the Columbia plume frequently exceed those outside the plume by up to a factor of 2.…”
Section: Discussion and Summarymentioning
confidence: 99%
“…[7] The meridional penetration of a river plume is largely controlled by the magnitude of Q and the direction and amplitude of the wind stress forcing [Kourafalou et al, 1996]. To illustrate these relations we computed t y and Q for the period 1949 -2001 (Figure 4).…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…However, the relevance of these studies to the typical geophysical applications where the buoyant gravity current propagates along a sloping bottom is unclear. Previous laboratory (Whitehead & Chapman 1986) and numerical modelling studies (Chao 1988;Chapman & Lentz 1994;Kourafalou et al 1996;Yankovsky & Chapman 1997;Xing & Davies 1999;Garvine 1999) suggest a sloping bottom has a profound influence on the characteristics and dynamics of buoyant gravity currents (hereafter referred to as simply gravity currents).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%