Evolving Interior Mixing Regimes in a Tidal River Plume

Autor: Preston Spicer, Kimberly Huguenard, Kelly L. Cole, Daniel G. MacDonald, Michael M. Whitney
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Geophysical Research Letters, Vol 49, Iss 17, Pp n/a-n/a (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1944-8007
0094-8276
DOI: 10.1029/2022GL099633
Popis: Abstract Microstructure profiling was utilized to estimate vertical mixing (via vertical turbulent buoyancy flux) during a tidal pulse in the interior Merrimack River plume in calm winds. Multiple stratified shear mixing regimes appear and evolve with time. Initially the plume acts as a nearfield jet, with mixing in the plume (plume layer mixing) and over the plume‐ambient interface (nearfield interfacial mixing). As the plume grows, interfacial mixing is suppressed offshore of the nearfield as currents slow, diminishing turbulent exchange between plume and shelf. At the end of ebb, ambient tidal currents reverse direction below plume, initiating another mode of internal, interfacial mixing (coined here as tidal interfacial mixing), allowing exchange between plume and ambient waters offshore. This work highlights previously unreported tidally modulated mixing within the near and midfield of a river plume.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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