Vertical mixing at the head of the Laurentian Channel

Temperature, salinity and velocity profiles taken over a 5-day period in the St. Lawrence Estuary at the head of the Laurentian Channel are used to describe the semidiurnal tidal period isopycnal oscillations occurring in this region. The observed variation in the degree of vertical mixing over the tidal cycle is used to support the concept of nutrification of the estuarine surface waters and suggests an explanation for the quarter-diurnal variability of primary production in this region.