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Tidal Distortions Related to Extreme Atmospheric Forcing Over the Inner Shelf
Author(s) -
PaniaguaArroyave Juan F.,
ValleLevinson Arnoldo,
Parra Sabrina M.,
Adams Peter N.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: oceans
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9291
pISSN - 2169-9275
DOI - 10.1029/2019jc015021
Subject(s) - shoal , geology , bathymetry , oceanography , storm , shore , channelized , forcing (mathematics) , continental shelf , flow (mathematics) , climatology , telecommunications , geometry , mathematics , computer science
Inner shelf transport is driven by the combination of tides, waves, density gradients, and wind that interact with bottom bedforms. To extend understanding of shoal‐swale bathymetry influences on inner‐shelf hydrodynamics, we provide observations at a swale ~13 m deep within Cape Canaveral shoals, ~36 km away from Hurricane Matthew's path during October 2016. Observations document a unidirectional flow that reached 2.7 m/s at a distance ~15 km away from the shoreline. The flow changed direction, over the course of the storm, counterclockwise from southwestward (~2.7 m/s) to northeastward (~1 m/s). The unidirectional flow modified tides over the inner shelf analogously to a river discharge in a channelized tidal flow, producing overtides of the semidiurnal tidal harmonic. Our results provide measurements during extreme conditions related to shore parallel‐propagating hurricanes that can inform morphodynamic and ecological models.