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Influence of current velocity and wind speed on air‐water gas exchange in a mangrove estuary
Author(s) -
Ho David T.,
Coffineau Nathalie,
Hickman Benjamin,
Chow Nicholas,
Koffman Tobias,
Schlosser Peter
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2016gl068727
Subject(s) - estuary , mangrove , environmental science , residence time (fluid dynamics) , hydrology (agriculture) , current (fluid) , wind speed , oceanography , turbulence , tracer , geology , fishery , meteorology , geography , physics , geotechnical engineering , nuclear physics , biology
Abstract Knowledge of air‐water gas transfer velocities and water residence times is necessary to study the fate of mangrove derived carbon exported into surrounding estuaries and ultimately to determine carbon balances in mangrove ecosystems. For the first time, the 3 He/SF 6 dual tracer technique, which has been proven to be a powerful tool to determine gas transfer velocities in the ocean, is applied to Shark River, an estuary situated in the largest contiguous mangrove forest in North America. The mean gas transfer velocity was 3.3 ± 0.2 cm h −1 during the experiment, with a water residence time of 16.5 ± 2.0 days. We propose a gas exchange parameterization that takes into account the major sources of turbulence in the estuary (i.e., bottom generated shear and wind stress).