Mixing processes and hydraulic control in a highly stratified estuary

dc.contributor.author MacDonald, Daniel G.
dc.coverage.spatial Fraser River Estuary
dc.date.accessioned 2008-10-01T15:27:23Z
dc.date.available 2008-10-01T15:27:23Z
dc.date.issued 2003-02
dc.description Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution February 2003 en
dc.description.abstract This thesis utilizes field data from the Fraser River Estuary, a highly stratified system located in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, to investigate the nature of mixing processes in a highly stratified environment, and to extend two-dimensional hydraulic theory to a three dimensional environment. During the late ebb, a stationary front exists at the Fraser mouth. Although densimetric Froude numbers in the vicinity of the front are supercritical in a frame of reference parallel to the local streamlines, the front itself is oriented such that the value of the Froude number is equal to the critical value of unity when taken in a frame of reference perpendicular to the front. This observation presents a robust extension of established two-dimensional, two-layer hydraulic theory to thee dimensions, and implies similarity with trans-sonic flows, in that a Froude angle can be used to identify critical conditions in a manner similar to the Mach angle. Mixing processes were evaluated at the mouth during the late ebb using a control volume approach to isolate mean vertical entrainment processes from turbulent processes, and quantify the vertical turbulent salt and momentum fluxes. Observed turbulent dissipation rates are high, on the order of 10-3 m2s.3, with vertical entrainment velocities on the order of 2x10-3 m's'l. Mixing efficiencies, expressed as flux Richardson numbers, are confined within a range from 0.15 to 0.2, at gradient Richardson number values between 0.2 and 0.25. These results are consistent with previous laboratory studies, but represent energetic conditions that are several orders of magnitude higher. In the estuarine channel, the variability of mixing processes was investigated through the tidal cycle using control volume and overturn scale methods. Spatially, mixing was observed to be more intense near a width constriction on the order of25%. Temporally, more dominant mixing was observed during ebbs, due to increases in both vertical shear and stratification. Mixing is active and important throughout the tidal cycle, and was found to be the dominant process responsible for removing salt from the estuarine channel during the ebb. en
dc.description.sponsorship This research was funded by Office of Naval Research grants N000-14-97-10134 and N000-14-97-10566, National Science Foundation grant OCE-9906787, a National Science Foundation graduate fellowship, and the WHOI Academic Programs Office. en
dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
dc.identifier.citation MacDonald, D. G. (2003). Mixing processes and hydraulic control in a highly stratified estuary [Doctoral thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]. Woods Hole Open Access Server. https://doi.org/10.1575/1912/2454
dc.identifier.doi 10.1575/1912/2454
dc.identifier.uri https://hdl.handle.net/1912/2454
dc.language.iso en_US en
dc.publisher Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution en
dc.relation.ispartofseries WHOI Theses en
dc.subject Tidal currents en_US
dc.subject Salinity en_US
dc.subject Hydrodynamics en_US
dc.subject Clifford A. Barnes (Ship) Cruise en_US
dc.title Mixing processes and hydraulic control in a highly stratified estuary en
dc.type Thesis en
dspace.entity.type Publication
relation.isAuthorOfPublication b9259729-0d21-45ff-a7da-2f776ed3bb92
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery b9259729-0d21-45ff-a7da-2f776ed3bb92
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