Open AccessGas Bubbles as Oceanographic Tracers
Author(s) -
Burkard Baschek,
David M. Farmer
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of atmospheric and oceanic technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.774
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1520-0426
pISSN - 0739-0572
DOI - 10.1175/2009jtecho688.1
Subject(s) - current (fluid) , downwelling , geology , oceanography , front (military) , tidal current , bubble , echo sounding , stratification (seeds) , meteorology , mechanics , upwelling , physics , seed dormancy , germination , botany , dormancy , biology
Air bubbles can be used as oceanographic tracers that indicate the strength of a downwelling current by which they are subducted. In a tidal front in the Fraser Estuary, British Columbia, Canada, vertical currents of up to 0.70 m s−1 subduct bubbles to depths of more than 160 m. Echo sounder measurements are compared with simultaneous ADCP current measurements and are interpreted with a bubble model by S. A. Thorpe, yielding an estimate of the vertical current that carries the bubbles to the depth of measurement.