Open AccessMEASUREMENT OP DENSITY CURRENTS IN AN IDEALIZED MODEL
Author(s) -
Timm Stuckrath
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
proceedings of conference on coastal engineering/proceedings of ... conference on coastal engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2156-1028
pISSN - 0589-087X
DOI - 10.9753/icce.v12.120
Subject(s) - turbulence , turbulent diffusion , mechanics , stratification (seeds) , diffusion , salinity , geology , dissipation , physics , mixing (physics) , turbulence kinetic energy , meteorology , hydrology (agriculture) , oceanography , geotechnical engineering , thermodynamics , seed dormancy , germination , botany , dormancy , biology , quantum mechanics
The mixing of salt and fresh water in estuaries of tidal rivers is related to two major phenomenons turbulent diffusion and density currents The turbulent diffusion can be read off from the horizontal and vertical salinity distribution, the density current can be determined from the velocity distribution on the vertical axes The physical description of tidal mixing in a mathematically closed system is not possible, because turbulent diffusion and gravitational convection are varied by such different influences as tidal action, fresh water flow, river bed form and roughnes, and gravitational and CORIOLIS forces Most research in this field has been done on turbulent diffusion, especially to predict the mean horizontal (longitudinal) salinity distribution IPPEN, HARLEMAN (ref 11, 12), and others have found out by various model tests that PICK'S law of diffusion used in one-dimensional form is a good physical description for the longitudinal salinity distribution and that the tidal energy dissipation, the cross section, and the fresh water flow are a good means of classifying tidal estuaries from the viewpoint of stratification.