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ON THE SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION OF TEMPERATURE AND SALINITY IN RHODE ISLAND SOUND 1
Author(s) -
Shonting David H.,
Cook Gerald S.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1970.15.1.0100
Subject(s) - thermocline , salinity , oceanography , brackish water , bay , water column , seasonality , estuary , environmental science , temperature salinity diagrams , outflow , geology , hydrology (agriculture) , atmospheric sciences , climatology , ecology , geotechnical engineering , biology
The temperature and salinity of Rhode Island Sound were measured between July 1963 and July 1964. A seasonal thermocline developed at middepth in spring and intensified through August. Early fall cooling and wind mixing rapidly destroyed the thermocline, rendering the water column practically isothermal by late October. The salinity patterns are more complex than those of temperature and are strongly influenced by seasonal variations in coastal runoff. Brackish water outflow from Narragansett Bay was traced as a salinity wedge as far as 20–30 km from the coast. The seasonal variation in thermal energy of the sound is estimated to be at least four orders of magnitude greater than the potential energy changes.