The tidal and subtidal variations in the transverse salinity and current distributions across a coastal plain estuary

Wong, Kuo‐Chuin; Moses-Hall, Joy E.

doi:10.1357/002224098321822393

Cited by 20 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…These wind effects are consistent with the Great Lakes findings of Csanady [1973] and the Delaware Bay findings of Wong [1994] and Wong and Moses‐Hall [1998]. The dynamics argument advanced by these authors is that for uniform surface slope, decreasing depth necessitates decreasing surface to bottom stress differential.…”

Section: Circulation Of Tampa Bay As Inferred From the Modelsupporting

confidence: 85%

Circulation of Tampa Bay driven by buoyancy, tides, and winds, as simulated using a finite volume coastal ocean model

Weisberg¹,

Zheng²

2006

J. Geophys. Res.

125

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[1] The circulation of Tampa Bay is investigated using a high-resolution, threedimensional, density-dependent, finite volume coastal ocean model (FVCOM) that includes Tampa Bay, the intracoastal waterway, and the inner portion of the west Florida continental shelf. Model performance over the three-month interval, September to November 2001, is assessed against available tide gauge and velocity profiler data before using the model to describe the circulation as driven by rivers, tides, and winds. Because of a mean wind velocity vector directed down the estuary axis, we ran a parallel model experiment without winds to distinguish the estuarine circulation by gravitational convection from the mean wind effects. With or without winds, Tampa Bay exhibits a robust, two-layered estuarine circulation that concentrates on the deep channels. The mean outflow at the surface tends to converge on the channels where the free surface elevation is locally minimum. The mean inflow near the bottom also concentrates in the channels where the baroclinic pressure gradient force is largest. Geometry thus guides the mean circulation and salinity distributions. At the Tampa Bay mouth, mean outflows exist both in the deeper Egmont Channel and the shallower South Pass, whereas a mean inflow is limited to the Egmont Channel. A residence time based on the Egmont Channel influx is estimated to be about 100 days. Consistent with previous studies we conclude that gravitational convection is a major contributor to the water property distributions of Tampa Bay, and that the FVCOM is suitable for estuary/shelf interaction studies.Citation: Weisberg, R. H., and L. Y. Zheng (2006), Circulation of Tampa Bay driven by buoyancy, tides, and winds, as simulated using a finite volume coastal ocean model,

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Section: Circulation Of Tampa Bay As Inferred From the Modelsupporting

confidence: 85%

Circulation of Tampa Bay driven by buoyancy, tides, and winds, as simulated using a finite volume coastal ocean model

Weisberg¹,

Zheng²

2006

J. Geophys. Res.

125

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“…Prior research in the estuary includes studies of tidal and subtidal circulation [ Pape and Garvine , 1982; Parker , 1991; Wong and Sommerfield , 2009], local and remote wind forcing [ Wong and Garvine , 1984; Wong , 1991; Janzen and Wong , 2002], axial salinity variation [ Garvine et al , 1992; Wong , 1995], and the lateral structure of salinity and currents [ Wong , 1994; Wong and Moses‐Hall , 1998]. On the basis of axial surveys of salinity and suspended sediment concentration [ Biggs et al , 1983; Sharp et al , 2009], it has long been speculated that the estuarine null point, where the tidally averaged bottom current is zero, falls roughly 100 km landward of the Delaware Bay mouth in the vicinity of the C&D Canal (see Figure 1 for location).…”

Section: The Delaware Estuarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms of sediment flux and turbidity maintenance in the Delaware Estuary

Sommerfield

Wong

2011

J. Geophys. Res.

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[1] An observational study was conducted to identify mechanisms of suspended sediment flux and turbidity maintenance in the Delaware River estuary. From March through October 2005, instrumented moorings were deployed to obtain continuous measurements of currents and suspended sediment concentration at sites along the estuarine channel and on flanking subtidal flats. Data time series were analyzed to determine the relative influence of nontidal advection and tidal pumping on residual fluxes of sediment. Results indicate that the estuarine channel is a strongly advective transport environment with residual sediment fluxes driven mostly by gravitational circulation. Tidal pumping is a contributing process of residual sediment flux in the channel near the estuarine null point and turbidity maximum, though the magnitude and direction of pumping vary with river flow and resident sediment inventory in the upper estuary. Sediment pumping in the channel is driven by tidal asymmetries in velocity and particle settling and perhaps by tidal variations in internal mixing in the stratified lower estuary. In contrast to the estuarine channel, residual sediment fluxes over the subtidal flats are weak and dominated by tidal pumping. Landward advective fluxes of sediment in bottom waters of the lower estuarine channel are strongest during neap tides; during large spring tides sediment is mixed high in the water column and the advective flux reverses to seaward under the residual surface outflow. Despite these transient seaward fluxes, the estuary has an enormous capacity to buffer extreme freshwater discharges and suppress export of suspended sediment to Delaware Bay.

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“…It should be noted that in the ADCP current meter was deployed at 40 m depth in the study of the Carter et al, 1979;Walters and Gartner, 1985;Valle Levinson et al, 1998;Wong and Moses-Hall, 1998;Wong and DiLorenzo, 1988;Wong, 2002). The effect of coastal winds is specially relevant in areas affected by permanent or seasonal upwelling, as it is the case of the Galician rías (Rosón et al, 1997;Álvarez-Salgado et al, 2000;Pardo et al, 2001), the Chilean fjords (Aysen Fjord, Cáceres et al, 2002) or Bantry Bay in South West Ireland (Edwards et al, 1996).…”

Section: Subtidal Circulation Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Net ecosystem metabolism of a coastal embayment fertilised by upwelling and continental runoff

Villegas‐Ríos

Álvarez‐Salgado

Piedracoba

et al. 2011

Continental Shelf Research

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O 2 , N, P and Si net ecosystem metabolism of the Ría de Ares-Betanzos (NW Iberian upwelling system) was estimated during two 3-wk periods of contrasting summer downwelling and autumn upwelling conditions by means of a transient 2-D kinematic box model. The subtidal circulation was positive in both situations, although it was depressed during downwelling and enhanced during upwelling. Concurrently, the ría was fertilised mainly by shelf bottom waters, which introduced from 69% (under downwelling) to almost 100% (under upwelling) of the limiting N nutrients. The ría was an efficient nutrient trap: about 70% of the N nutrients that entered the embayment were retained under downwelling conditions (average flushing time, 9 days) and about 50% under upwelling conditions (average flushing time 3 days). Although the trapping efficiency was lower, the net ecosystem production (NEP) was much higher under upwelling (from 1.0 ± 0.3 to 1.5 ± 0.4 g C m -2 d -1 ), than under downwelling favourable winds (from 0.2 ± 0.1 to 0.3 ± 0.1 g C m -2 ). The stoichiometry of NEP suggests that P and N compounds recycled faster than C compounds, specially in the inner segment of the ría. The net degree of silification was twice in the inner than in the outer segment of the ría.

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The tidal and subtidal variations in the transverse salinity and current distributions across a coastal plain estuary

Cited by 20 publications

References 0 publications

Circulation of Tampa Bay driven by buoyancy, tides, and winds, as simulated using a finite volume coastal ocean model

Circulation of Tampa Bay driven by buoyancy, tides, and winds, as simulated using a finite volume coastal ocean model

Mechanisms of sediment flux and turbidity maintenance in the Delaware Estuary

Net ecosystem metabolism of a coastal embayment fertilised by upwelling and continental runoff

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