Axial wind effects on stratification and longitudinal sediment transport in a convergent estuary during wet season
Axial wind effects on stratification and longitudinal sediment transport in a convergent estuary during wet season
Date
2020-01-17
Authors
Chen, Lianghong
Gong, Wenping
Scully, Malcolm E.
Zhang, Heng
Cheng, Weicong
Li, Wei
Gong, Wenping
Scully, Malcolm E.
Zhang, Heng
Cheng, Weicong
Li, Wei
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Person
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DOI
10.1029/2019JC015254
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Keywords
Sediment transport
Vertical stratification
Wind effects
China, Pearl River Delta
COAWST model system
Vertical stratification
Wind effects
China, Pearl River Delta
COAWST model system
Abstract
The Coupled Ocean‐Atmosphere‐Wave‐Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling system was used to examine axial wind effects on vertical stratification and sediment transport in a convergent estuary. The model demonstrated that stratification dynamics in the upper estuary (Kelvin number <1; Ke= fB/√ g'hs) are dominated by longitudinal wind straining, whereas the dominant mechanism governing estuarine stratification in the lower estuary (Kelvin number ~1) is lateral wind straining. Barotropic advection contributes to seaward sediment transport and peaks during spring tides, whereas estuarine circulation causes landward sediment transport with a maximum during neap tides. Down‐estuary winds impose no obvious effects on longitudinal sediment flux, whereas up‐estuary winds contribute to enhanced seaward sediment flux by increasing the tidal oscillatory flux. The model also demonstrates that bottom friction is significantly influenced by vertical stratification over channel regions, which is indirectly affected by axial winds.
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Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans 125(2), (2020): e2019JC015254, doi:10.1029/2019JC015254.
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Citation
Chen, L., Gong, W., Scully, M. E., Zhang, H., Cheng, W., & Li, W. (2020). Axial wind effects on stratification and longitudinal sediment transport in a convergent estuary during wet season. Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans, 125(2), e2019JC015254.