Characteristics of a Shallow River Plume: Observations from the Saco River Coastal Observing System |
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Authors: | Charles E Tilburg Shaun M Gill Stephan I Zeeman Amy E Carlson Timothy W Arienti Jessica A Eickhorst Philip O Yund |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Marine Sciences and Marine Science Center, University of New England, 11 Hills Beach Road, Biddeford, ME 04093, USA |
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Abstract: | Interest in the coastal dynamics of river plumes has mainly focused on large rivers, but plumes from the more numerous smaller
rivers have important local consequences and may, in aggregate, be significant contributors to coastal circulation. We studied
the dynamics of the plume from the Saco River in Saco Bay, Gulf of Maine, over a 3-year period. The transport and salinity
in the region are governed by river discharge, tides, winds, and interaction with the Western Maine Coastal Current. The dynamics
of the flow field vary with location within the plume and discharge. The far-field dynamics of the Saco River plume are dominated
by inertial processes (hence qualifying it as a small-scale river plume), during times of low discharge, with low salinity
water present both up and downstream of the river mouth, but are dominated by rotational processes during times of high discharge
(thus qualifying it as a large-scale river plume), with buoyant water primarily advected downshelf. Near-field dynamics are
governed by weak, subcritical flow during low discharge but strongly inertial, supercritical flow during high discharge. Offshore
movement of the plume is not governed by Ekman dynamics but is instead a result of discharge, wind-induced vertical mixing,
and the geography of the coastline and adjacent islands. |
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