Impact of Estuarine Outflow on Coastal Upwelling

A two-dimensional numerical model is developed facilitating the locationwise study of coastal upwelling. The coastal rigid boundary in the model is replaced with an open boundary to understand the dynamical response of the coastal ocean in the presence of an estuary. The model is applied to the east coast of India in a plane perpendicular to the coast of Kakinada where the Godavari river joins the Bay of Bengal. The model is driven, starting from a state of rest, by the combined effect of the wind stress forcing and the freshwater discharge from the estuary. Two numerical experiments were conducted to study the effect of the variation in the freshwater discharge on upwelling. It is found that the freshwater discharge from the Godavari estuary suppresses the upwelling off Kakinada.     

两大江河流量的半世纪变化与“南水北调”

根据最近50余年资料研讨黄河、长江月平均流量的特征,揭示其若干演变规律。分析得出：长江中下游多年平均年流量约为黄河的20倍。初夏（6月）时,则接近50倍。黄河的大流量主要集中出现于 7～10月,这4个月平均月流量为全年的14.5%,其它8个月平均为 5.25%;长江流量自 5月起逐渐增加,5～10月平均月流量占全年的12.0%,其它各月平均为4.67%。最近50余年来,黄河中下游流量在1968年以前主要为正距平;1969-1985年基本正常;1986年起一直为负距平;加上人为因素,致使下游流量剧减迅猛,以致90年代以来连年有断流出现。长江中下游流量在1953-1955年为显著正距平;然后缓慢下降;90年代以后回升,1997年以后迅速上升,并出现几次大洪水。总之长江水源比黄河丰富且较稳定,黄河流量近10多年来则是贫瘠且多变。南水北调既是需要又有可能,尤其对解决北方春旱更为有利。     

Response of salinity distribution around the Yellow River mouth to abrupt changes in river discharge

To investigate how salinity changes with abrupt increases and decreases in river discharge, three surveys were conducted along six sections around the Yellow River mouth before, during and after a water regulation event during which the river discharge was increased from ∼200 to >3000 m³ s⁻¹ for the first 3 days, was maintained at >3000 m³ s⁻¹ for the next 9 days and was decreased to <1000 m³ s⁻¹ for the final 4 days. The mean salinity in the Yellow River estuary area during the event varied ∼1.21, which is much larger than its seasonal variation (∼0.50) and interannual variation (∼0.05). Before the event, a small plume was observed near the river mouth. During the event, the plume extended over 24 km offshore in the surface layer in the direction of river water outflow. After the event, the plume diminished in size but remained larger than before the event. The downstream propagation of the plume (as in a Kelvin wave sense) was apparent in the bottom layer during the second survey and in both the surface and bottom layers during the third survey. The plume sizes predicted by the formulas from theoretical studies are larger than those we observed, indicating that factors neglected by theoretical studies such as the temporal variation in river discharge and vertical mixing in the sea could be very important for plume evolution. In addition to the horizontal variation of the plume, we also observed the penetration of freshwater from the surface layer into the bottom layer. A comparison of two vertical processes, wind mixing and tidal mixing, suggests that the impact of wind mixing may be comparable with that of tidal mixing in the area close to the river mouth and may be dominant over offshore areas. The change in Kelvin number indicates an alteration of plume dynamics due to the abrupt change in river discharge during the water regulation event.