Ocean SciencePub Date : 2023-01-24DOI: 10.5194/os-19-77-2023
P. Sheehan, G. Damerell, Philip J. Leadbitter, K. Heywood, R. Hall
{"title":"Turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate and associated fluxes in the western tropical Atlantic estimated from ocean glider observations","authors":"P. Sheehan, G. Damerell, Philip J. Leadbitter, K. Heywood, R. Hall","doi":"10.5194/os-19-77-2023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-77-2023","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Ocean gliders enable us to collect the high-resolution microstructure observations necessary to calculate the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy, ε, on timescales of weeks to months: far longer than is normally possible using traditional ship-based platforms. Slocum gliders have previously been used to this end; here, we report the first detailed estimates of ε calculated using the Batchelor spectrum method on observations collected by a FP07 fast thermistor mounted on a Seaglider. We use these same fast thermistor observations to calculate ε following the Thorpe scale method and find very good agreement between the two methods. The Thorpe scale method yields larger values of ε, but the average difference, which is less than an order of magnitude, is smaller than reported elsewhere. The spatio-temporal distribution of ε is comparable for both methods. Maximum values of ε (10−7 W kg−1) are observed in the surface mixed layer; values of approximately 10−9 W kg−1 are observed between approximately 200 and 500 m depth. These two layers are separated by a 100 m thick layer of low ε (10−10 W kg−1), which is co-located with a high-salinity layer of Subtropical Underwater and a peak in the strength of stratification. We calculate the turbulent heat and salt fluxes associated with the observed turbulence. Between 200 and 500 m, ε induces downward fluxes of both properties that, if typical of the annual average, would have a very small influence on the heat and salt content of the overlying salinity-maximum layer. We compare these turbulent fluxes with two estimates of double-diffusive fluxes that occur in regions susceptible to salt fingers, such as the western tropical Atlantic. We find that the double-diffusive fluxes of both heat and salt are larger than the corresponding turbulent fluxes.\u0000","PeriodicalId":19535,"journal":{"name":"Ocean Science","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90884555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ocean SciencePub Date : 2023-01-18DOI: 10.5194/os-19-57-2023
C. Piecuch
{"title":"River effects on sea-level rise in the Río de la Plata estuary during the past century","authors":"C. Piecuch","doi":"10.5194/os-19-57-2023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-57-2023","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Identifying the causes for historical sea-level changes in coastal tide-gauge records is important for constraining oceanographic, geologic, and climatic processes. The Río de la Plata estuary in South America features the longest tide-gauge records in the South Atlantic. Despite the relevance of these data for large-scale circulation and climate studies, the mechanisms underlying relative sea-level changes in this region during the past century have not been firmly established. I study annual data from tide gauges in the Río de la Plata and stream gauges along the Río Paraná and Río Uruguay to establish relationships between river streamflow and sea level over 1931–2014. Regression analysis suggests that streamflow explains 59 %±17 % of the total sea-level variance at Buenos Aires, Argentina, and 28 %±21 % at Montevideo, Uruguay (95 % confidence intervals). A long-term streamflow increase effected sea-level trends of 0.71±0.35 mm yr−1 at Buenos Aires and 0.48±0.38 mm yr−1 at Montevideo. More generally, sea level at Buenos Aires and Montevideo respectively rises by (7.3±1.8)×10-6 m and (4.7±2.6)×10-6 m per 1 m3 s−1 streamflow increase. These observational results are consistent with simple theories for the coastal sea-level response to streamflow forcing, suggesting a causal relationship between streamflow and sea level mediated by ocean dynamics. Findings advance understanding of local, regional, and global sea-level changes; clarify sea-level physics; inform future projections of coastal sea level and the interpretation of satellite data and proxy reconstructions; and highlight future research directions. Specifically, local and regional river effects should be accounted for in basin-scale and global mean sea-level budgets as well as reconstructions based on sparse tide-gauge records.\u0000","PeriodicalId":19535,"journal":{"name":"Ocean Science","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75496131","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ocean SciencePub Date : 2023-01-17DOI: 10.5194/os-19-43-2023
E. Zaron, T. A. Capuano, A. Koch‐Larrouy
{"title":"Fortnightly variability of Chl a in the Indonesian seas","authors":"E. Zaron, T. A. Capuano, A. Koch‐Larrouy","doi":"10.5194/os-19-43-2023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-43-2023","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Twenty years of daily MODIS-Aqua\u0000ocean color observations (2002–2022) are used to identify periodic variability of near-surface\u0000chlorophyll (Chl a) in the Indonesian seas.\u0000The frequency spectrum of Chl a is dominated by the mean and low-frequency monsoonal variability;\u0000however, a prominent peak around the fortnightly tidal period, MSf, is present.\u0000Harmonic analysis is used to quantify and map the fortnightly Chl a signal,\u0000which is discovered to be significant along the continental shelves of NW Australia\u0000and at several sites associated with narrow passages between the Lesser Sunda Islands,\u0000within the Sulu Archipelago, and at a few other sites in the Philippines Archipelago.\u0000Fortnightly variability at the shallow coastal sites is attributed to the\u0000spring–neap cycle of barotropic ocean currents, while we hypothesize that the variability\u0000in deeper water near the island passages is due to the modulation of vertical\u0000nutrient fluxes by baroclinic tidal mixing.\u0000The results document the significance of tidal mixing\u0000and highlight the heterogeneous character of biophysical processes within the Indonesian seas.\u0000","PeriodicalId":19535,"journal":{"name":"Ocean Science","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76081643","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ocean SciencePub Date : 2023-01-16DOI: 10.5194/os-19-17-2023
C. Camargo, R. Riva, T. Hermans, Eike M. Schütt, M. Marcos, I. Hernández‐Carrasco, A. Slangen
{"title":"Regionalizing the sea-level budget with machine learning techniques","authors":"C. Camargo, R. Riva, T. Hermans, Eike M. Schütt, M. Marcos, I. Hernández‐Carrasco, A. Slangen","doi":"10.5194/os-19-17-2023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-17-2023","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Attribution of sea-level change to its different drivers is typically done using a sea-level budget approach. While the global mean sea-level budget is considered closed, closing the budget on a finer spatial scale is more complicated due to, for instance, limitations in our observational system and the spatial processes contributing to regional sea-level change.\u0000Consequently, the regional budget has been mainly analysed on a basin-wide scale.\u0000Here we investigate the sea-level budget at sub-basin scales, using two machine learning techniques to extract domains of coherent sea-level variability: a neural network approach (self-organizing map, SOM) and a network detection approach (δ-MAPS).\u0000The extracted domains provide more spatial detail within the ocean basins and indicate how sea-level variability is connected among different regions.\u0000Using these domains we can close, within 1σ uncertainty, the sub-basin regional sea-level budget from 1993–2016 in 100 % and 76 % of the SOM and δ-MAPS regions, respectively.\u0000Steric variations dominate the temporal sea-level variability and determine a significant part of the total regional change.\u0000Sea-level change due to mass exchange between ocean and land has a relatively homogeneous contribution to all regions. In highly dynamic regions (e.g. the Gulf Stream region) the dynamic mass redistribution is significant.\u0000Regions where the budget cannot be closed highlight processes that are affecting sea level but are not well captured by the observations, such as the influence of western boundary currents.\u0000The use of the budget approach in combination with machine learning techniques leads to new insights into regional sea-level variability and its drivers.\u0000","PeriodicalId":19535,"journal":{"name":"Ocean Science","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77506410","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ocean SciencePub Date : 2023-01-11DOI: 10.5194/os-19-1-2023
Alexia D. Saint-Macary, A. Marriner, Theresa Barthelmeß, Stacy Deppeler, K. Safi, Rafael Costa Santana, M. Harvey, C. Law
{"title":"Dimethyl sulfide cycling in the sea surface microlayer in the southwestern Pacific – Part 1: Enrichment potential determined using a novel sampler","authors":"Alexia D. Saint-Macary, A. Marriner, Theresa Barthelmeß, Stacy Deppeler, K. Safi, Rafael Costa Santana, M. Harvey, C. Law","doi":"10.5194/os-19-1-2023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-1-2023","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Elevated dimethyl sulfide (DMS) concentrations in the sea\u0000surface microlayer (SML) have been previously related to DMS air–sea flux\u0000anomalies in the southwestern Pacific. To further address this, DMS, its\u0000precursor dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), and ancillary variables were\u0000sampled in the SML and also subsurface water at 0.5 m depth (SSW) in\u0000different water masses east of New Zealand. Despite high phytoplankton\u0000biomass at some stations, the SML chlorophyll a enrichment factor (EF) was low\u0000(< 1.06), and DMSP was enriched at one\u0000station with DMSP EF ranging from 0.81 to 1.25. DMS in the SML was\u0000determined using a novel gas-permeable tube technique which measured\u0000consistently higher concentrations than with the traditional glass plate\u0000technique; however, significant DMS enrichment was present at only one station,\u0000with the EF ranging from 0.40 to 1.22. SML DMSP and DMS were influenced by\u0000phytoplankton community composition, with correlations with dinoflagellate\u0000and Gymnodinium biomass, respectively. DMSP and DMS concentrations were also correlated\u0000between the SML and SSW, with the difference in ratio attributable to\u0000greater DMS loss to the atmosphere from the SML. In the absence of significant enrichment, DMS in the SML did not\u0000influence DMS emissions, with the calculated air–sea\u0000DMS flux of 2.28 to 11.0 µmol m−2 d−1 consistent with\u0000climatological estimates for the region. These results confirm previous\u0000regional observations that DMS is associated with dinoflagellate abundance\u0000but indicate that additional factors are required to support significant enrichment\u0000in the SML.\u0000","PeriodicalId":19535,"journal":{"name":"Ocean Science","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90122412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ocean SciencePub Date : 2022-12-20DOI: 10.5194/os-18-1805-2022
J. van der Molen, S. Groeskamp, L. Maas
{"title":"Imminent reversal of the residual flow through the Marsdiep tidal inlet into the Dutch Wadden Sea based on multiyear ferry-borne acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) observations","authors":"J. van der Molen, S. Groeskamp, L. Maas","doi":"10.5194/os-18-1805-2022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-1805-2022","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The Dutch Wadden Sea is a UN World Heritage Site connected to the\u0000North Sea by multiple tidal inlets. Although there are strong tidal currents\u0000flowing through these inlets, the magnitude and direction of the residual\u0000circulation in the western Dutch Wadden Sea is important for sediment,\u0000salinity and nutrient balances. We found that the direction of this residual\u0000flow is reversing. This residual circulation has been the subject of various studies since the\u00001970s, in which substantially different net volume fluxes were presented. Differences in tidal conditions in the main inlets,\u0000tidal rectification and meteorology were identified as driving mechanisms. Here we analysed\u0000almost 13 years of acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) observations collected on the ferry crossing the\u0000Marsdiep tidal inlet in the Dutch Wadden Sea since 2009. The results are\u0000combined with earlier investigations covering the period 1998–2009. We find\u0000a significant trend in the magnitude of the residual volume flux, with\u0000decreasing export to the North Sea and with occasional imports observed in\u0000recent years. We hypothesise that this trend is related predominantly to\u0000changes in tides in the North Sea, which are caused by increased strength\u0000and duration of stratification in response to global warming. With warming\u0000projected to continue, we expect the residual flow in the Marsdiep to\u0000continue to reverse to full inflow within the current decade, with potential\u0000knock-on effects for the sediment budget and ecosystem of the western Wadden\u0000Sea.\u0000","PeriodicalId":19535,"journal":{"name":"Ocean Science","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2022-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84035942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ocean SciencePub Date : 2022-12-16DOI: 10.5194/os-18-1781-2022
J. Ramos-Alcántara, D. Gomis, G. Jordà
{"title":"Reconstruction of Mediterranean coastal sea level at different timescales based on tide gauge records","authors":"J. Ramos-Alcántara, D. Gomis, G. Jordà","doi":"10.5194/os-18-1781-2022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-1781-2022","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. A coastal sea level reconstruction based on tide gauge\u0000observations is developed and applied to the western basin of the\u0000Mediterranean sea. The reconstructions are carried out in four frequency\u0000bands and are based on an optimal interpolation method in which the\u0000correlation between tide gauge data and all coastal points has been\u0000determined from the outputs of a numerical model. The reconstructions for\u0000frequencies lower than 1 month use monthly observations from the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL)\u0000database and cover the period from 1884 to 2019. For the reconstruction of\u0000higher frequencies, hourly observations from the Global Extreme Sea Level\u0000Analysis (GESLA-2) dataset are used\u0000and cover from 1980 to 2015. Total sea level is retrieved with high accuracy\u0000from the merging of the different frequency bands. Results of a\u0000cross-validation test show that independent tide gauge series are highly\u0000correlated with the reconstructions. Moreover, they correlate significantly\u0000better with the reconstructions than with altimetry data in all frequency\u0000bands, and therefore the reconstruction represents a valuable contribution\u0000to the attempts of recovering coastal sea level. The obtained\u0000reconstructions allow us to characterize the coastal sea level variability,\u0000estimate coastal sea level trends along the entire coastline, and examine\u0000the correlation between western Mediterranean coastal sea level and the main\u0000North Atlantic climate indices. The limitations and applicability of the\u0000method to other regions are also discussed.","PeriodicalId":19535,"journal":{"name":"Ocean Science","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2022-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90572431","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ocean SciencePub Date : 2022-12-15DOI: 10.5194/os-18-1741-2022
D. Volkov, C. Schmid, Leah N. Chomiak, C. Germineaud, Shenfu Dong, Marlos Goes
{"title":"Interannual to decadal sea level variability in the subpolar North Atlantic: the role of propagating signals","authors":"D. Volkov, C. Schmid, Leah N. Chomiak, C. Germineaud, Shenfu Dong, Marlos Goes","doi":"10.5194/os-18-1741-2022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-1741-2022","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The gyre-scale, dynamic sea surface height (SSH) variability\u0000signifies the spatial redistribution of heat and freshwater in the ocean,\u0000influencing the ocean circulation, weather, climate, sea level, and\u0000ecosystems. It is known that the first empirical orthogonal function (EOF)\u0000mode of the interannual SSH variability in the North Atlantic exhibits a\u0000tripole gyre pattern, with the subtropical gyre varying out of phase with\u0000both the subpolar gyre and the tropics, influenced by the low-frequency\u0000North Atlantic Oscillation. Here, we show that the first EOF mode explains\u0000the majority (60 %–90 %) of the interannual SSH variance in the Labrador and\u0000Irminger Sea, whereas the second EOF mode is more influential in the\u0000northeastern part of the subpolar North Atlantic (SPNA), explaining up to\u000060 %–80 % of the regional interannual SSH variability. We find that the two\u0000leading modes do not represent physically independent phenomena. On the\u0000contrary, they evolve as a quadrature pair associated with a propagation of\u0000SSH anomalies from the eastern to the western SPNA. This is confirmed by the\u0000complex EOF analysis, which can detect propagating (as opposed to\u0000stationary) signals. The analysis shows that it takes about 2 years for sea\u0000level signals to propagate from the Iceland Basin to the Labrador Sea, and\u0000it takes 7–10 years for the entire cycle of the North Atlantic SSH tripole\u0000to complete. The observed westward propagation of SSH anomalies is linked to\u0000shifting wind forcing patterns and to the cyclonic pattern of the mean ocean\u0000circulation in the SPNA. The analysis of regional surface buoyancy fluxes in\u0000combination with the upper-ocean temperature and salinity changes suggests a\u0000time-dependent dominance of either air–sea heat fluxes or advection in\u0000driving the observed SSH tendencies, while the contribution of surface\u0000freshwater fluxes (precipitation and evaporation) is negligible. We\u0000demonstrate that the most recent cooling and freshening observed in the SPNA\u0000since about 2010 were mostly driven by advection associated with the North\u0000Atlantic Current. The results of this study indicate that signal propagation\u0000is an important component of the North Atlantic SSH tripole, as it applies\u0000to the SPNA.\u0000","PeriodicalId":19535,"journal":{"name":"Ocean Science","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2022-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76678885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ocean SciencePub Date : 2022-12-15DOI: 10.5194/os-18-1763-2022
Everton Giachini Tosetto, A. Bertrand, S. Neumann-Leitão, A. Costa da Silva, M. Nogueira Júnior
{"title":"Planktonic cnidarian responses to contrasting thermohaline and circulation seasonal scenarios in a tropical western boundary current system","authors":"Everton Giachini Tosetto, A. Bertrand, S. Neumann-Leitão, A. Costa da Silva, M. Nogueira Júnior","doi":"10.5194/os-18-1763-2022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-1763-2022","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. In western boundary current systems (WBCSs), strong\u0000currents flow coastward carrying oceanic water masses and their associated\u0000planktonic fauna. Variation in the intensity of these currents and in the\u0000continental runoff may affect the dynamic interplay between oceanic and\u0000coastal communities. In addition, changes in the continental runoff and the\u0000thermohaline structure modulate the primary production, adding complexity to\u0000the dynamics of these oligotrophic systems. These dynamics likely shape the\u0000planktonic cnidarian communities. To further understand such relationships,\u0000we used a comprehensive dataset encompassing samples collected above the\u0000shelf and slope and around oceanic seamounts and islands of the Fernando de\u0000Noronha Ridge in the western tropical South Atlantic, in two seasons\u0000characterised by distinct thermohaline structure and circulation patterns.\u0000Results show that in the tropical South Atlantic and, likely, other western\u0000boundary systems with narrow continental shelves, coastward currents spread\u0000oceanic waters and their associated cnidarian species over the continental\u0000shelf. However, while both coastal and oceanic communities co-occur when the\u0000continental runoff is notable, oceanic species dominate almost the entire\u0000shelf during the dry season characterised by a stronger boundary current\u0000intensity. We also conclude that when the mixed-layer depth and associated\u0000nutricline are shallower, the enhanced primary productivity supports larger\u0000populations of planktonic cnidarian species through a bottom–up control.\u0000","PeriodicalId":19535,"journal":{"name":"Ocean Science","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2022-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74414413","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ocean SciencePub Date : 2022-12-12DOI: 10.5194/os-18-1725-2022
Pia Kolb, A. Zorndt, H. Burchard, U. Gräwe, F. Kösters
{"title":"Modelling the impact of anthropogenic measures on saltwater intrusion in the Weser estuary","authors":"Pia Kolb, A. Zorndt, H. Burchard, U. Gräwe, F. Kösters","doi":"10.5194/os-18-1725-2022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-1725-2022","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The Weser estuary has been subject to profound changes in\u0000topography in the past 100 years through natural variations and river\u0000engineering measures, leading to strong changes in hydrodynamics. These\u0000changes are also expected to have affected the dynamics of saltwater\u0000intrusion. Using numerical modelling, we examined saltwater intrusion in the\u0000Weser estuary in four different system states (1966, 1972, 1981, 2012).\u0000Models of each system state were set up with the respective topography and\u0000boundary values. We calibrated and validated each model individually to\u0000account for differences in sediments, bedforms, and the resolution of\u0000underlying bathymetric data between historical and recent system states. In\u0000simulations of 1 hydrological year, each with realistic forcing\u0000(hindcasting study), the influence of topography is overshadowed by the\u0000effects of other factors, particularly river discharge. At times of\u0000identical discharge, results indicate a landward shift of the salinity front\u0000between 1966 and 2012. Subsequent simulations with different topographies\u0000but identical boundary conditions (scenario study) confirm that topography\u0000changes in the Weser estuary affected saltwater intrusion. Solely through\u0000the topography changes, at a discharge of 300 m3 s−1,\u0000the position of the tidally averaged and depth-averaged salinity front\u0000shifted landwards by about 2.5 km between 1972 and 1981 and by another 1 km\u0000between 1981 and 2012. These changes are significant but comparatively\u0000small, since due to seasonal variations in run-off, the tidally averaged\u0000saltwater intrusion can vary by more than 20 km. An analysis of the salt\u0000flux through a characteristic cross section showed that saltwater\u0000intrusion in the Weser estuary is primarily driven by tidal pumping and only\u0000to a lesser degree due to estuarine circulation. However, results indicate\u0000that the contribution of individual processes has changed in response to\u0000anthropogenic measures.\u0000","PeriodicalId":19535,"journal":{"name":"Ocean Science","volume":"71 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2022-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81848240","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}