Frictional estuarine circulation in Juan de Fuca Strait, with
implications for secondary circulation
J. Geophys. Res., 103, 15,657-15,666, 1998.
Estuarine flow in Juan de Fuca Strait
is highly seasonal in nature; July's peak in Fraser River
discharge coincides with an appreciable along-channel
sea surface slope.
An upper layer momentum balance requires the vertical
eddy viscosity A_v to be on the order of 0.03
m^2/s, larger than implied by conventional
empirical formulae and used in current models.
The mixing in an estuarine channel and large vertical
eddy viscosity should lead to significant cross-channel
flows.
This secondary circulation, which may be due to internal
Ekman layers and intrusions of water mixed at the
sloping sides of the strait, is much less understood than
the basic along-channel estuarine exchange.
Unfortunately, historical current meter data in Juan
de Fuca Strait are of insufficient spatial resolution
to show the predicted patterns.
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