J.A. Stephens

The dependence of estuarine turbidity on tidal intrusion length, tidal range and residence time

Abstract It is shown that there is a marked tendency for long, strongly tidal estuaries to have greater suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentrations within their high-turbidity regions than shorter estuaries with comparable tidal ranges at their mouths, or weakly tidal estuaries. Using consistently derived data from 44 estuaries in Europe and the Americas, contours of the logarithm of maximum estuarine SPM concentration are shown to be reasonably smooth when plotted against the logarithm of mean spring tidal range (at the estuary mouth) and the logarithm of estuarine tidal length. Predictions from the plot are compared with published observations made in the Delaware, Scheldt, Rio de la Plata, Gironde, Bay of Fundy, Changjiang (Yangtze), Amazon, Patos Lagoon and the Hawkesbury Estuary and it is shown that, qualitatively, there are no serious discrepancies. Short, weakly tidal estuaries are predicted to have very low ‘intrinsic’ SPM concentrations. High SPM concentrations in these estuaries would most likely be the result of either locally generated wave resuspension, high freshwater sediment loads due to freshets, or intruding seawater carrying suspended sediments derived from wave activity in the coastal zone. Application of a generic tidal model demonstrates that longer estuaries possess faster tidal currents for a given tidal range at their mouth and, in the presence of a supply of erodable fine sediment, therefore (by implication) produce greater concentrations of SPM that can be accumulated within a turbidity maximum. The same is true if the tidal range is increased for estuaries of a given length. These features are illustrated by comparing surveys of SPM data from two large estuaries possessing greatly different tidal ranges (the microtidal, medium turbidity Potomac and the macrotidal, highly turbid Humber-Ouse) and a third, much smaller but strongly tidal estuary (the low-turbidity Tweed). It is demonstrated that longer estuaries tend to have longer flushing times for solutes than shorter systems and that larger tides tend to reduce flushing times, although the tidal influence is secondary. Short, rapidly flushed estuaries quickly lose their erodable fine sediment to the coastal zone during freshets and during the ebbing currents of spring tides. Turbidity is therefore small during low runoff, low wave activity conditions. Very long, very slowly flushed estuaries are unlikely to lose a significant fraction of their resuspended sediments during freshets or individual ebb tides and are therefore able to accumulate large and increasing amounts of fine sediment in the long-term. Turbidity within them is therefore high during the fast currents of large spring tides.

The freshwater-saltwater interface and its relationship to the turbidity maximum in the Tamar Estuary, United Kingdom

Data are presented from several experiments in the freshwater-saltwater interface (FSI) region of the Tamar Estuary. Longitudinal surveys of salinity and suspended particulate matter (SPM) at high water showed that the location of the FSI could be predicted in terms of a power-law regression with freshwater runoff. Longitudinal transects also were surveyed over periods of several hours. The FSI was observed to advect into the region on the flood with strong vertical mixing. After high water, stratification became intense as fresher water ebbed in the surface layers. The near-bed water in the stratified region began to ebb between 2 h and 3 h before low water. A model of the vertical structure of longitudinal currents showed that the enhanced stratification on the ebb, coupled with the longitudinal density gradient, partly produced this long period of slack, near-bed currents following high water. A strong turbidity maximum (TM) occurred during spring tides and was located slightly up-estuary of the FSI at high water. Longitudinal transects during a period of low freshwater runoff and large neap tide showed that at the start of the flood the TM was associated with the FSI region. As the FSI advected up-estuary on the flood there was considerable resuspension of sediment at the FSI. Some of this SPM moved with the FSI and reached the limit of saline intrusion, where it formed a slowly-eroding TM as particles settled during the long, high-water slack period. As the near-bed currents increased on the ebb and the FSI moved down-estuary, strong vertical mixing and resuspension of recently deposited sediment occurred in the unstratified water behind the FSI and the associated TM advected down-estuary. Additional effects were present with stronger tides and increased runoff.

Gulf Stream shifts following ENSO events

Over the past three decades the annual mean latitude of the Gulf Stream off the coast of the United States has been forecastable from the intensity of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the predictions accounting for more than half the variance. Here we show that much of the unexplained variance can be accounted for by the Southern Oscillation in the Pacific, the Gulf Stream being displaced northwards following El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. This provides a link between events in the equatorial Pacific and the circulation and weather conditions of the North Atlantic.

Diurnal variations of convective mixing and the spring bloom of phytoplankton

Abstract Turbulent stirring of the surface mixed layer extends to shallower depths during the day than in the night because the increased buoyancy resulting from solar heating inhibits the mixing associated with wind action and surface heat loss. Calculations using a simple model in which a mixed layer of constant depth is more strongly coupled to deeper layers at night than during the day indicate that the reduction of mixing by day may be critical to the onset of the spring phytoplankton bloom, for this occurs at a time when there is increasing solar warming in the day and yet considerable heat loss and wind stirring at night. If the Kraus-Turner model of the mixed layer is used to estimate the mixing rates occurring during darkness, the values obtained agree with those that give realistic simulations of the spring bloom. Diurnal observations of chlorophyll a , p CO 2 and oxygen saturation made at 60°N during the Lagrangian experiment carried out in 1989 as part of the U.K. Biogeochemical Ocean Flux Study can be modelled more successfully if the day-night changes in vertical mixing are included in the same manner as the single layer model. The calculations indicate that these changes may shift the timing of the bloom by about 1 week and may account for the depth of penetration of some spring blooms. This process needs to be considered when modelling the coupling between climate and phytoplankton.

Computed and observed currents, elevations, and salinity in a branching estuary

A one-dimensional, hydrodynamical model of the Tamar Estuary shows good agreement with measured tidal elevations and currents. Computed currents are used to drive a one-dimensional moving-element model of the salt balance. The moving-element model overcomes the numerical difficulties associated with strong tidal advection. Axial distributions of salinity at high water, computed using the moving-element model, compare well with measurements. The modelled and observed high water salinity distributions in this macrotidal estuary show little dependence on tidal range. The major variability in salinity is due to runoff. This strong and rapid dependence on runoff is a consequence of short residence (or flushing) times. Typically, residence times are less than one day throughout the year in the upper 10 km of estuary. The residence times maximize in summer, reaching 14 d for the whole estuary. During high runoff winter periods residence times are less than 5 d. Mixing coefficients for the moving-element salinity model are deduced from salinity measurements. Dispersion coefficients at fixed locations along the estuary are deduced from solutions of the salinity model. The spatially-averaged coefficients at mean spring and neap tides are 180 and 240 m2 s−1, respectively, for average runoff. Therefore, spring-neap variations in dispersion are fairly small and show a negative correlation with tidal range. The spatially-averaged dispersion coefficients at mean tides vary from 150 to 300 m2 s−1 for typical summer and winter runoff, respectively. The increase in dispersion with runoff and the decrease with tidal range implies that buoyancy-driven currents generate an important component of the shear dispersion in this estuary.

Bulk properties of intertidal sediments in a muddy, macrotidal estuary

Abstract Measurements are presented of the bulk and mineralogical properties of intertidal sediments along the axis of the Tamar Estuary, southwest England. Bulk and dry density data indicate a significant increase in consolidation of the surface layer of the intertidal mudflats progressing down-estuary from the turbidity maximum region to the mouth. There are very significant trends of both density and estimated critical eroison shear stress with distance. Cross-sectionally averaged, bed shear stresses due to tidal currents are computed using a hydrodynamical model. These tidal stresses generally increase along the axis of the estuary from mouth to head and reach a maximum in the upper reaches. The increasing consolidation towards the mouth appears to result from the small bed shear stresses due to tidal currents in the lower reaches and the increasing proportion of coarse material there. Bed shear stresses are large in the upper reaches and regular intratidal resuspension and transport occur during spring tides, with little time available for consolidation following deposition during slack-water periods. The silt and clay fraction of the intertidal sediments increases from the mouth to the turbidity maximum region near the head (60 to > 99% dry weight). The particulate organic carbon (POC) content, assuming this to be approximated by loss on ignition, similarly increases from about 2% of dry weight near the mouth to about 8% in the turbidity maximum region. The POC content of a sample is largely dependent on the proportion of fine sediment within the sample, regardless of its position. The lower estuary is associated with intertidal sediments having relatively low silt and clay content and low associated organic material. It appears to be a fairly stable zone between the marine and estuarine environments. The upper estuary, in the turbidity maximum region, appears to be almost homogeneous in both POC (8.1 ±0.6%) and silt content (95±5%) during summer. The central region is an area of great variability in the size fraction, sediment type and POC content.

Both respiration and photosynthesis determine the scaling of plankton metabolism in the oligotrophic ocean.

Despite its importance to ocean–climate interactions, the metabolic state of the oligotrophic ocean has remained controversial for >15 years. Positions in the debate are that it is either hetero- or autotrophic, which suggests either substantial unaccounted for organic matter inputs, or that all available photosynthesis (P) estimations (including 14C) are biased. Here we show the existence of systematic differences in the metabolic state of the North (heterotrophic) and South (autotrophic) Atlantic oligotrophic gyres, resulting from differences in both P and respiration (R). The oligotrophic ocean is neither auto- nor heterotrophic, but functionally diverse. Our results show that the scaling of plankton metabolism by generalized P:R relationships that has sustained the debate is biased, and indicate that the variability of R, and not only of P, needs to be considered in regional estimations of the oceans metabolic state.

Longitudinal dispersion processes in the upper tamar estuary

Measurements of velocity, salinity, and suspended solids concentration have been used to investigate the intra-tidal variation of vertical and transverse shear-induced dispersion. For the study research the interaction of the longitudinal density gradient and vertical shear during the early part of the ebb tide accounted for much of the net longitudinal dispersion of solute landward. The same mechanism also is shown to lead to a net particulate transport landward. The landward flux, however, takes place during the flood tide. The field data are also used to elucidate the tidally averaged tidal pumping mechanism.

Suspended sediment fluxes in the tidal Ouse, UK

A strong turbidity maximum (TM) of suspended particulate matter (SPM) was observed in the upper Humber and lower Ouse during both spring and neap tides of May 1994. Near-bed concentrations within the TM sometimes exceeded fluid mud levels following slack water periods. SPM within the TM comprised very fine-grained material. Its low organic content demonstrated that the SPM was essentially mineral, clastic sediment. Generally, tidal advection of SPM was the dominant flux mechanism and the pronounced flood-ebb asymmetry in the tidal currents was reflected in these fluxes. However, the presence of fluid mud near the down-estuary margins of the TM on the early ebb resulted in a strong, up-estuary shear flux that opposed the ebb-directed advection. This mechanism therefore acted to maintain fine sediment in the TM region. SPM concentrations in the inflowing fresh water at Naburn Weir were much less than those observed within the TM region ( 70 000 mg l -1 ). The estimated mean SPM transport into the tidal Ouse across Naburn Weir was about 4 kg s -1 (>2 and <11 kg s -1 ) during 1994. In the TM area, the SPM transported during the course of a single spring tide flood was roughly equivalent to 30 months of Naburn SPM inflows at average 1994 levels. The tidally averaged SPM transport in the TM region was directed into the estuary and, per tide, was roughly equivalent to three months of Naburn inputs.

Supplement to physical exchanges at the air-sea interface: UK-SOLAS Field Measurements

This document is a supplement to “Physical Exchanges at the Air–Sea Interface: UK–SOLAS Field Measurements,” by Ian M. Brooks, Margaret J. Yelland, Robert C. Upstill-Goddard, Philip D. Nightingale, Steve Archer, Eric d’Asaro, Rachael Beale, Cory Beatty, Byron Blomquist, A. Anthony Bloom, Barbara J. Brooks, John Cluderay, David Coles, John Dacey, Michael DeGrandpre, Jo Dixon, William M. Drennan, Joseph Gabriele, Laura Goldson, Nick Hardman-Mountford, Martin K. Hill, Matt Horn, Ping-Chang Hsueh, Barry Huebert, Gerrit de Leeuw, Timothy G. Leighton, Malcolm Liddicoat, Justin J. N. Lingard, Craig McNeil, James B. McQuaid, Ben I. Moat, Gerald Moore, Craig Neill, Sarah J. Norris, Simon O’Doherty, Robin W. Pascal, John Prytherch, Mike Rebozo, Erik Sahlee, Matt Salter, Ute Schuster, Ingunn Skjelvan, Hans Slagter, Michael H. Smith, Paul D. Smith, Meric Srokosz, John A. Stephens, Peter K. Taylor, Maciej Telszewski, Roisin Walsh, Brian Ward, David K. Woolf, Dickon Young, and Henk Zemmelink (Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 90, 629–644) • ©2009 American Meteorological Society • Corresponding author: Ian M. Brooks, Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom • E-mail: i.brooks@see.leeds.ac.uk • DOI:10.1175/2008BAMS2578.2