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Mixing processes on the Atlantic continental shelf, Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras
Author(s) -
Fischer Hugo B.
Publication year - 1980
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.1980.25.1.0114
Subject(s) - continental shelf , oceanography , cape , inflow , current (fluid) , tributary , dispersion (optics) , environmental science , flux (metallurgy) , geology , mixing (physics) , geography , chemistry , physics , cartography , archaeology , quantum mechanics , optics , organic chemistry
Data from moored current meters and airborne and satellite observations are used in conjunction with analyses of shear flow dispersion to estimate the dispersion of dissolved substances in the Middle Atlantic Bight during unstratified periods. The long‐shelf dispersion coefficient is estimated to be of the order of 10 4 −10 5 cm 2 ·s −1 , and the cross‐shelf dispersion coefficient of the order of 3 × 10 5 cm 2 ·s −1 at midshelf. The cross‐shelf estimate is a factor of 10 less than previous ones, which were based on the assumption that the cross‐shelf flux of freshwater is equal to the inflow from tributary rivers within the bight itself.