A periodic freshwater patch detachment process from the Block Island Sound estuarine plume: BIS PERIODIC FRESHWATER PATCH DETACHMENT
Abstract
Previous observations suggest periodic freshwater patches separating from the Block Island Sound (BIS) estuarine plume. In this study, the dynamics of the separation process is investigated through a series of numerical experiments using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). In addition, we explore the seasonal variability of the freshwater patches and their response to river discharge and ambient current. The model results indicate that episodic freshwater patches are triggered by small changes in tidal currents over the spring-neap tidal cycle. The spring-neap variation in tidal currents causes significant, monthly fluctuations in turbulent mixing and vertical stratification in BIS, modulating the freshwater discharge thereby generating episodic freshwater patches that move both downstream along the southern shore of Long Island and toward Rhode Island Sound (RIS). The realistically configured model shows that the freshwater patches experience strong seasonal variability. They are largest in spring when the river discharge peaks, and smallest in summer due to the weak river discharge and a robust upstream ambient current from RIS. According to the analysis of the freshwater transport out of BIS, we conclude that such detachment occurs at tidal mixing fronts.
- Authors:
-
[1];
- Univ. of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI (United States); Univ. of Maine, Oronom, ME (United States)
- Univ. of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI (United States)
- Gingdao National Lab. for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao (China)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1532972
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0005432
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 122; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2169-9275
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Oceanography
Citation Formats
Liu, Qianqian, Rothstein, Lewis M., and Luo, Yiyong. A periodic freshwater patch detachment process from the Block Island Sound estuarine plume: BIS PERIODIC FRESHWATER PATCH DETACHMENT. United States: N. p., 2016.
Web. doi:10.1002/2015jc011546.
Liu, Qianqian, Rothstein, Lewis M., & Luo, Yiyong. A periodic freshwater patch detachment process from the Block Island Sound estuarine plume: BIS PERIODIC FRESHWATER PATCH DETACHMENT. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015jc011546
Liu, Qianqian, Rothstein, Lewis M., and Luo, Yiyong. Tue .
"A periodic freshwater patch detachment process from the Block Island Sound estuarine plume: BIS PERIODIC FRESHWATER PATCH DETACHMENT". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015jc011546. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1532972.
@article{osti_1532972,
title = {A periodic freshwater patch detachment process from the Block Island Sound estuarine plume: BIS PERIODIC FRESHWATER PATCH DETACHMENT},
author = {Liu, Qianqian and Rothstein, Lewis M. and Luo, Yiyong},
abstractNote = {Previous observations suggest periodic freshwater patches separating from the Block Island Sound (BIS) estuarine plume. In this study, the dynamics of the separation process is investigated through a series of numerical experiments using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). In addition, we explore the seasonal variability of the freshwater patches and their response to river discharge and ambient current. The model results indicate that episodic freshwater patches are triggered by small changes in tidal currents over the spring-neap tidal cycle. The spring-neap variation in tidal currents causes significant, monthly fluctuations in turbulent mixing and vertical stratification in BIS, modulating the freshwater discharge thereby generating episodic freshwater patches that move both downstream along the southern shore of Long Island and toward Rhode Island Sound (RIS). The realistically configured model shows that the freshwater patches experience strong seasonal variability. They are largest in spring when the river discharge peaks, and smallest in summer due to the weak river discharge and a robust upstream ambient current from RIS. According to the analysis of the freshwater transport out of BIS, we conclude that such detachment occurs at tidal mixing fronts.},
doi = {10.1002/2015jc011546},
journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans},
number = 1,
volume = 122,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Dec 20 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Tue Dec 20 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
Other availability
Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Cited by: 7 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science
Web of Science
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.
Works referenced in this record:
The Rhine outflow: A prototypical pulsed discharge plume in a high energy shallow sea
journal, August 1997
- de Ruijter, Wilhelmus P. M.; Visser, Andre W.; Bos, W. G.
- Journal of Marine Systems, Vol. 12, Issue 1-4
Tidal Straining, Density Currents, and Stirring in the Control of Estuarine Stratification
journal, June 1990
- Simpson, J. H.; Brown, J.; Matthews, J.
- Estuaries, Vol. 13, Issue 2
Observations of Stratified Turbulent Mixing in an Estuary: Neap-to-spring Variations During High River Flow
journal, July 1997
- Peters, H.
- Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Vol. 45, Issue 1
Model evaluation experiments in the North Atlantic Basin: simulations in nonlinear terrain-following coordinates
journal, August 2000
- Haidvogel, Dale B.; Arango, Hernan G.; Hedstrom, Kate
- Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans, Vol. 32, Issue 3-4
On the Seasonal Distribution of Temperature and Salinity in Rhode Island Sound1: Temperature and Salinity in Rhode Island Sound
journal, January 1970
- Shonting, David H.; Cook, Gerald S.
- Limnology and Oceanography, Vol. 15, Issue 1
Gravity-driven flows in a turbulent fluid
journal, November 1986
- Linden, P. F.; Simpson, J. E.
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 172, Issue -1
Offshore Detachment Process of the Low-Salinity Water around Changjiang Bank in the East China Sea
journal, May 2010
- Moon, Jae-Hong; Hirose, Naoki; Yoon, Jong-Hwan
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 40, Issue 5
The cyclonic turning and propagation of buoyant coastal discharge along the shelf
journal, July 2000
- Yankovsky, Alexander E.
- Journal of Marine Research, Vol. 58, Issue 4
The structure of the coastal density front at the outflow of Long Island Sound during spring 2002
journal, June 2005
- Kirincich, A. R.; Hebert, D.
- Continental Shelf Research, Vol. 25, Issue 9
North American Regional Reanalysis
journal, March 2006
- Mesinger, Fedor; DiMego, Geoff; Kalnay, Eugenia
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 87, Issue 3
Turbulence in coastal fronts near the mouths of Block Island and Long Island Sounds
journal, October 2009
- Levine, Edward R.; Goodman, Louis; O'Donnell, James
- Journal of Marine Systems, Vol. 78, Issue 3
Laboratory observations of a gravity current on a sloping bottom: the generation of shelf waves
journal, November 1986
- Whitehead, John A.; Chapman, David C.
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 172, Issue -1
Numerical Treatment of Cross-Shelf Open Boundaries in a Barotropic Coastal Ocean Model
journal, August 1985
- Chapman, David C.
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 15, Issue 8
Spring-neap modulation of internal tide mixing and vertical nitrate fluxes at a shelf edge in summer
journal, September 2007
- Sharples, Jonathan; Tweddle, Jacqueline F.; Mattias Green, J. A.
- Limnology and Oceanography, Vol. 52, Issue 5
The Formation and Fate of a River Plume: A Numerical Model
journal, April 1990
- O'Donnell, James
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 20, Issue 4
The 4-D structure of upwelling and Pearl River plume in the northern South China Sea during summer 2008 revealed by a data assimilation model
journal, January 2011
- Shu, Yeqiang; Wang, Dongxiao; Zhu, Jiang
- Ocean Modelling, Vol. 36, Issue 3-4
Dynamics of the Block Island Sound Estuarine Plume
journal, May 2016
- Liu, Qianqian; Rothstein, Lewis M.; Luo, Yiyong
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 46, Issue 5
Quasi-Monotone Advection Schemes Based on Explicit Locally Adaptive Dissipation
journal, June 1998
- Shchepetkin, Alexander F.; McWilliams, James C.
- Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 126, Issue 6
Tidal effects on the bulge region of Changjiang River plume
journal, January 2012
- Rong, Zengrui; Li, Ming
- Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Vol. 97
Physical mechanisms for the offshore detachment of the Changjiang Diluted Water in the East China Sea
journal, January 2008
- Chen, Changsheng; Xue, Pengfei; Ding, Pingxing
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 113, Issue C2
Dynamics of the periphery current in Rhode Island Sound
journal, September 2016
- Liu, Qianqian; Rothstein, Lewis M.; Luo, Yiyong
- Ocean Modelling, Vol. 105
Trapping of a Coastal Density Front by the Bottom Boundary Layer
journal, July 1994
- Chapman, David C.; Lentz, Steven J.
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 24, Issue 7
Climatic variability of the circulation in the Rhode Island Sound: A modeling study: Circulation in The Rhode Island Sound
journal, September 2013
- Luo, Yiyong; Rothstein, Lew; Liu, Qianqian
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol. 118, Issue 9
Flood–ebb and spring–neap variations of mixing, stratification and circulation in Chesapeake Bay
journal, January 2009
- Li, Ming; Zhong, Liejun
- Continental Shelf Research, Vol. 29, Issue 1
Subtidal Variability of Estuarine Outflow, Plume, and Coastal Current: A Model Study
journal, January 1993
- Oey, Lie-Yauw; Mellor, G. L.
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 23, Issue 1
A method for computing horizontal pressure-gradient force in an oceanic model with a nonaligned vertical coordinate
journal, January 2003
- Shchepetkin, Alexander F.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 108, Issue C3
Impact of variable inflow on the dynamics of a coastal buoyant plume
journal, September 2001
- Yankovsky, Alexander E.; Hickey, Barbara M.; Münchow, Andreas K.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol. 106, Issue C9
Fronts in the Irish Sea
journal, August 1974
- Simpson, J. H.; Hunter, J. R.
- Nature, Vol. 250, Issue 5465
Interplay of Wind Forcing and Buoyant Discharge off Montauk Point: Seasonal Changes to Velocity Structure and a Coastal Front
journal, June 2005
- Codiga, Daniel L.
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 35, Issue 6
The regional oceanic modeling system (ROMS): a split-explicit, free-surface, topography-following-coordinate oceanic model
journal, January 2005
- Shchepetkin, Alexander F.; McWilliams, James C.
- Ocean Modelling, Vol. 9, Issue 4
Influence of wind stress and ambient flow on a high discharge river plume
journal, January 2002
- García Berdeal, I.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 107, Issue C9
Creation of residual flows in a partially stratified estuary
journal, August 2001
- Stacey, Mark T.; Burau, Jon R.; Monismith, Stephen G.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol. 106, Issue C8
The Cycle of Turbulent Dissipation in the Presence of Tidal Straining
journal, August 2001
- Rippeth, Tom P.; Fisher, Neil R.; Simpson, John H.
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 31, Issue 8
Seasonal variation of a coastal jet in the Long Island Sound outflow region based on HF radar and Doppler current observations
journal, January 2004
- Ullman, D. S.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 109, Issue C7
Works referencing / citing this record:
Summertime Connecticut River Water Pathways and Wind Impacts
journal, March 2019
- Jia, Yan; Whitney, Michael M.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol. 124, Issue 3