Timescales of transport through Lower Green Bay
| Autor: | Eric J. Anderson, Hector R. Bravo, Sajad Ahmad Hamidi, Bahram Khazaei, J. Val Klump |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
geography Biogeochemical cycle geography.geographical_feature_category Ecology 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology Hypoxia (environmental) 010501 environmental sciences Aquatic Science Spatial distribution 01 natural sciences Drifter Oceanography Tributary medicine Flushing Environmental science Water quality medicine.symptom Bay Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Great Lakes Research. 46:1292-1306 |
| ISSN: | 0380-1330 |
| Popis: | Contaminated sediments, poor water quality, and lost or altered habitat in Lower Green Bay and Fox River in the 1980s led to its listing as an Area of Concern by the International Joint Commission. Previous studies on the geophysics and health of the bay demonstrated the need for estimates of transport timescales. Such estimates can contribute to improved understanding of the transport and fate of nutrients, contaminants, and biogeochemical processes in the bay. This study reviews definitions of residence time and flushing time, estimates the temporal distribution of flushing time, the spatial and temporal distributions of residence time, and horizontal diffusivities. The study used a previously developed hydrodynamic model, a drifter experiment, a lake particle transport model, and methods appropriate for the estimation of transport timescales. The estimated residence time for lower Green Bay, 56 ± 16 days, is smaller than a previous estimate of 190 days for the whole bay, and had values similar to the estimated flushing times. The closeness between those timescales demonstrates the important role of water exchange across the Chambers Island transect. Flushing time and residence time do not follow the same trends in monthly variability because the former depends directly on water exchange across Chambers Island, while the later depends, in addition, on tributary inflows and the circulation patterns in the bay. The study includes a discussion of the relations between the timescales of transport and the previous studies of biogeochemical processes, such as trophic conditions, spatial distribution of cyanobacteria, cold-water intrusions, and hypoxia. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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