1,721,138 research outputs found
Observations of the spring-neap modulation of the gravitational circulation in a partially mixed estuary
The long-term variability of the non-tidal circulation in Southampton Water, a partially mixed estuary, was investigated using 71-day acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) time series. The data show evidence that the spring-neap tidal variability of the turbulent mixing modulates the strength of the non-tidal residual circulation, with subtidal neap tide surface flows reaching 0.12 m s-1compared to <0.05 m s-1at spring tides. The amplitude of the neap-tide events in this non-tidal circulation is shown to be related to a critical value of the tidal currents, illustrating the strong dependence on tidal mixing. The results suggest that the dominant mechanism for generating these neap-tide circulation events is the baroclinic forcing of the horizontal density gradient, rather than barotropic forcing associated with ebb-induced periodic stratification. While tidal turbulence is thought to be the dominant control on this gravitational circulation, there is evidence of the additional effect of wind-driven mixing, including the effects of wind fetch and possibly wave development with along-estuary winds being more efficient at mixing the estuary than across-estuary winds. Rapid changes in atmospheric pressure also coincided with fluctuations in the gravitational circulation. The observed subtidal flows are shown to be capable of rapidly flushing buoyant material out of the estuary and into the coastal sea at neap tides
Quantifying turbulent mixing and oxygen fluxes in a Mediterranean-type, microtidal estuary
Observations of small-scale processes associated with the internal tide encountering an island
Current-meter, temperature, and microstructure observations of the large-amplitude internal tide shoaling on the continental shelf of the east coast of northern New Zealand show the complexity of the internal kinematics and mixing. The propagation speed of the main internal wave was around 0.3 m s?1, and nonstationary time series analysis was used to locate the trailing short-wavelength internal waves in frequency (periods of around 40 min) and tidal-phase space. The average energy dissipation rate (5 × 10?8 m2 s?3) was an order of magnitude smaller than that observed on the open shelf in other studies, but peaks in dissipation rate were measured to be much greater. The vertical diffusivity of heat was around 10?4 m2 s?1, comparable to, or greater than, other studies. Examples of the scale and sporadic nature of larger mixing events were observed. The behavior was complicated by the nearby steeply shoaling coast of the Poor Knight Islands. Consistent reflected wave energy was not apparent
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
S2P3-R (v1.0): a framework for efficient regional modelling of physical and biological structures and processes in shelf seas
An established one-dimensional (1-D) model of Shelf Sea Physics and Primary Production (S2P3) is adapted for flexible use in selected regional settings over selected periods of time. This Regional adaptation of S2P3, the S2P3-R framework (v1.0), can be efficiently used to investigate physical and biological phenomena in shelf seas that are strongly controlled by vertical processes. These include spring blooms that follow the onset of stratification, tidal mixing fronts that seasonally develop at boundaries between mixed and stratified water, and sub-surface chlorophyll maxima that persist throughout summer. While not representing 3-D processes, S2P3-R reveals the horizontal variation of the key 1-D (vertical) processes. S2P3-R should therefore only be used in regions where horizontal processes – including mean flows, eddy fluxes and internal tides – are known to exert a weak influence in comparison with vertical processes. In such cases, S2P3-R may be used as a highly versatile research tool, alongside more complex and computationally expensive models. In undergraduate oceanography modules and research projects, the model serves as an effective practical tool for linking theory and field observations. Three different regional configurations of S2P3-R are described, illustrating a range of diagnostics, evaluated where practical with observations. The model can be forced with daily meteorological variables for any selected year in the reanalysis era (1948 onwards). Example simulations illustrate the considerable extent of synoptic-to-interannual variability in the physics and biology of shelf seas. In discussion, the present limitations of S2P3-R are emphasised, and future developments are outlined
- …
