Upwelling by internal tides and kelvin waves at the continental shelf break on the Great Barrier Reef

1983 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 65 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Wolanski ◽  
GL Pickard
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Kelvin Waves ◽  
Shelf Break ◽  
Internal Tides ◽  
Wind Component ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Tidal Period ◽  
Continental Shelf Break

A time series of 50 days duration was obtained of sea levels and winds and of temperature and currents at six depths from 27 to 104 m at 18�19'S.,147�21'E. on the continental shelf break between the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea. The sea-level signal had a predominantly mixed solar and lunar semidiurnal tidal period. The currents consisted of a semidiurnal tidal component oriented primarily cross-shelf, except near the sea floor, superimposed on a low-frequency, predominantly longshore, southward component, coherent with depth, in geostrophic balance, and modulated by the longshore wind component Large fluctuations in temperature were observed, consisting of a low-frequency component, possibly generated by internal Kelvin waves, and iiucruarions of predominantiy solar semidiurnai iidai period. The latter fiiictuations are interpreted as evidence of internal tides of amplitude up to 110 m that may be generated by the interaction of the longshore currents with topographic irregularities in the shelf. It is suggested that, during any long-term studies of water properties near the shelf break, some additional monitoring of short-term temporal variations should be carried out to avoid data aliasing by internal tides. The bottom boundary layer appears to be very active in vertical mixing. Internal tides may be very important in introducing other water components, e.g. nutrients, to the outer Great Barrier Reef.

Continental shelf waves and their influence on the circulation around the Great Barrier Reef

1983 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Wolanski ◽  
AF Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Internal Tides ◽  
Wind Component ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Longshore Current ◽  
Shelf Waves

Winds and atmospheric pressure, sea level and water currents were measured at several locations over the continental shelf, both east and west of the Great Barrier Reef, between 14.5�s. and 20�S., from June to November 1980. The dominant wind direction changed from westward over the Coral Sea to north- westward (roughly parallel to the shore) over the shelf. A strong non-tidal low-frequency signal in all sea- level and longshore current data was found, highly coherent from site to site and strongly correlated with the longshore wind component over the shelf, though not with the atmospheric pressure. A model of wind- driven barotropic shelf waves is used to explain a number of observations, such as the invariance of temporal fluctuations of longshore current with distance from shore, and the northward longshore propagation of oceanic disturbances at a speed equal to twice that of the first-mode barotropic free shelf wave, a speed one order of magnitude smaller than that of the wind system. The low-frequency current fluctuations resulted in large water displacements, up and down the coast. Low-frequency cross-shelf currents were much weaker and less coherent. Two upwelling mechanisms are internal tides and internal Kelvin waves coupled to the barotropic shelf waves.

Mixing of Burdekin River flood waters in the Great Barrier Reef

1983 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Wolanski ◽  
Senden D Van
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
River Plumes ◽  
Sea Floor ◽  
Longshore Currents ◽  
River Flood ◽  
Shelf Wave ◽  
River Floods

Wind fluctuations in the central region of the Great Barrier Reef from December 1980 to February 1981 generated low-frequency, reversing, longshore currents superimposed on the northward longshore currents initially generated both by intense direct rainfall over the continental shelf and by Burdekin River floods. The river plumes, which account for terrigenous mud distribution on the sea floor, were swept over the Great Barrier Reef. It is suggested that intense direct rainfall over the continental shelf and Burdekin River floods may create a barotropic shelf wave.

scholarly journals LONG WAVES OVER THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

1982 ◽  
Vol 1 (18) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Eric Wolanski
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Mean Sea Level ◽  
Water Currents ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Shelf Waves ◽  
Wind Driven Currents ◽  
Continental Shelf Break ◽  
Continental Shelf Waves

Low-frequency forcing of water currents over the continental shelf °f Australia is quite strong and should be taken into account when the flow for durations greater than 1 day is important. In the case of the Queensland coast, the longshore wind generates barotropic continental shelf waves, raising or lowering the mean sea level by as much as 30 cm and generating longshore currents over the continental shelf, even very close to the coast, that are often larger than the tidal currents. These wind-driven currents can reverse sign, flowing alternately northward and southward, although the longshore wind stress, though fluctuating, does not change direction. To reproduce such phenomena in an analytical or computer model of wind-driven currents, it is necessary to extend the offshore boundaries of the model offshore from the continental shelf break.

scholarly journals Upper ocean stratification and sea ice growth rates during the summer-fall transition, as revealed by Elephant seal foraging in the Adélie Depression, East Antarctica

Ocean Science ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. D. Williams ◽  
M. Hindell ◽  
M.-N. Houssais ◽  
T. Tamura ◽  
I. C. Field
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Shelf Break ◽  
Upper Ocean ◽  
Ocean Stratification ◽  
Glacier Tongue ◽  
Ice Growth ◽  
Continental Shelf Break

Abstract. Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina), fitted with Conductivity-Temperature-Depth sensors at Macquarie Island in January 2005 and 2010, collected unique oceanographic observations of the Adélie and George V Land continental shelf (140–148° E) during the summer-fall transition (late February through April). This is a key region of dense shelf water formation from enhanced sea ice growth/brine rejection in the local coastal polynyas. In 2005, two seals occupied the continental shelf break near the grounded icebergs at the northern end of the Mertz Glacier Tongue for several weeks from the end of February. One of the seals migrated west to the Dibble Ice Tongue, apparently utilising the Antarctic Slope Front current near the continental shelf break. In 2010, immediately after that year's calving of the Mertz Glacier Tongue, two seals migrated to the same region but penetrated much further southwest across the Adélie Depression and sampled the Commonwealth Bay polynya from March through April. Here we present observations of the regional oceanography during the summer-fall transition, in particular (i) the zonal distribution of modified Circumpolar Deep Water exchange across the shelf break, (ii) the upper ocean stratification across the Adélie Depression, including alongside iceberg C-28 that calved from the Mertz Glacier and (iii) the convective overturning of the deep remnant seasonal mixed layer in Commonwealth Bay from sea ice growth. Heat and freshwater budgets to 200–300 m are used to estimate the ocean heat content (400→50 MJ m−2), flux (50–200 W m−2 loss) and sea ice growth rates (maximum of 7.5–12.5 cm day−1). Mean seal-derived sea ice growth rates were within the range of satellite-derived estimates from 1992–2007 using ERA-Interim data. We speculate that the continuous foraging by the seals within Commonwealth Bay during the summer/fall transition was due to favorable feeding conditions resulting from the convective overturning of the deep seasonal mixed layer and chlorophyll maximum that is a reported feature of this location.

Mesoscale, tidal and seasonal/interannual drivers of the Weddell Sea overturning circulation

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Shelf Break ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Global Circulation ◽  
Interannual Fluctuations ◽  
Continental Shelf Break

Abstract The Weddell Sea supplies 40–50% of the Antarctic BottomWaters that fill the global ocean abyss, and therefore exerts significant influence over global circulation and climate. Previous studies have identified a range of different processes that may contribute to dense shelf water (DSW) formation and export on the southern Weddell Sea continental shelf. However, the relative importance of these processes has not been quantified, which hampers prioritization of observational deployments and development of model parameterizations in this region. In this study a high-resolution (1/12°) regional model of the southern Weddell Sea is used to quantify the overturning circulation and decompose it into contributions due to multi-annual mean flows, seasonal/interannual variability, tides, and other sub-monthly variability. It is shown that tides primarily influence the overturning by changing the melt rate of the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf (FRIS). The resulting ~0.2 Sv decrease in DSW transport is comparable to the magnitude of the overturning in the FRIS cavity, but small compared to DSW export across the continental shelf break. Seasonal/interannual fluctuations exert a modest influence on the overturning circulation due to the relatively short (8-year) analysis period. Analysis of the transient energy budget indicates that the non-tidal, sub-monthly variability is primarily baroclinically-generated eddies associated with dense overflows. These eddies play a comparable role to the mean flow in exporting dense shelf waters across the continental shelf break, and account for 100% of the transfer of heat onto the continental shelf. The eddy component of the overturning is sensitive to model resolution, decreasing by a factor of ~2 as the horizontal grid spacing is refined from 1/3° to 1/12°.

Water circulation and shelf waves in the northern Great Barrier Reef lagoon

1981 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 721 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Wolanski ◽  
B Ruddick
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Current Data ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
The North ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Shelf Wave ◽  
Salinity Water

Currents and sea levels were measured at a number of locations in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) lagoon from about 10 to 13� S., during the period October-December 1979. A strong non-tidal, low-frequency modulation of all sea-level and current data was found. The currents nearshore were driven northward by the wind, and then at least partially blocked by the dense network of reefs to the north of 10� s. The water then flowed southward in deeper water adjacent to the reef, driven by a longshore pressure gradient. The low- frequency sea-level data, though not the current records, showed northward phase propagation at speeds characteristic of a first-mode shelf wave trapped in the lagoon between the shore and the reef. Data are presented revealing the intrusion of low-salinity water, through Bligh Entrance, in the GBR lagoon, as a result of river discharges in the Gulf of Papua. It is suggested that low-frequency longshore currents may periodically flush these river plumes from the GBR lagoon and enhance interaction between reefs. In the Coral Sea in front of reef passages, the large horizontal velocities may result in forces upwelling by selective withdrawal and jet entrainment.

Water masses, nutrient levels and sesonal drift on the outer central Queensland shelf (Great Barrier Reef)

1983 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 821 ◽  
Author(s):  
JC Andrews
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Bottom Water ◽  
Chlorophyll Concentration ◽  
Central Zone ◽  
Shelf Break ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Oxygen Utilization ◽  
Phosphate Nitrate ◽  
Reef Zone

A series of 19 cruises in 19 months in the central zone of the Great Barrier Reef was made in 1980-1 981 to examine the seasonal thermohaline cycles and nutrient distributions. The reefs occupy the outer 60 km of the shelf and the mixing there of Lagoon Water, Coral Sea Surface Water, Shelf-break Water and Subtropical Lower Water is examined using thermohaline data. Current meters and thermistors were moored from mid-1980 to mid-1982 to obtain seasonal drift and subseasonal temperature fluctuations. Subtropical Lower Water upwells through the reef zone to create a year-round thermal contrast between Shelf-break and Lagoon Waters, and vertical density stratification reflects this temperature contrast on the shelf Salinity variations reflect monsoonal rainfall and winter evaporation; rainfall and salinity show an interannual variation. The drifts of bottom water over the outer lagoon and of surface water over the continental slope follow the isobaths poleward. In the reef zone between the lagoon and the shelf break, there is a substantial cross-isobath, onshore flow of bottom water. Surface waters exhibit no significant averaged gradients in phosphate, nitrate, nitrite or oxygen utilization aross the reef zone. Surface chlorophyll concentration is high amongst the reefs. Subsurface chlorophyll levels are similarly high inside the shelf break, and subsurface phosphate, nitrate and oxygen utilization increases markedly, seaward across the reefs, particularly near the shelf break.

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