On the Nature of the Frontal Zone of the Choctawhatchee Bay Plume in the Gulf of Mexico

Authors

K. D. Huguenard, University of Maine
D. J. Bogucki, Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
D. G. Ortiz-Suslow, University of Miami
N. J. M. Laxague, University of Miami
J. H. MacMahan, Naval Post Graduate School
T. M. Ozgokmen, University of Miami
Brian K. Haus, University of Miami
A. J. H. M. Reniers, Delft University of Technology - The Netherlands
J. Hargrove, University of Miami
Alexander Soloviev, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
H. Graber, University of Miami

ORCID

0000-0001-6519-1547

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans

ISSN

0148-0227

Publication Date

2-15-2016

Keywords

River plume, Mixing, TKE dissipation, Frontal zone, Coastal processes, Estuarine processes, Nearshore processes, Turbulence, Diffusion, and Mixing processes

Abstract

River plumes often feature turbulent processes in the frontal zone and interfacial region at base of the plume, which ultimately impact spreading and mixing rates with the ambient coastal ocean. The degree to which these processes govern overall plume mixing is yet to be quantified with microstructure observations. A field campaign was conducted in a river plume in the northeast Gulf of Mexico in December 2013, in order to assess mixing processes that could potentially impact transport and dispersion of surface material near coastal regions. Current velocity, density, and Turbulent Kinetic Energy Values, ε, were obtained using an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), a Conductivity Temperature Depth (CTD) profiler, a Vertical Microstructure Profiler (VMP), and two Acoustic Doppler Velocimeters (ADVs). The frontal region contained ε values on the order of 10⁻⁵ m² s⁻³, which were markedly larger than in the ambient water beneath (O 10⁻⁹ m²s⁻³). An energetic wake of moderate ε values (O 10⁻⁶ m² s⁻³) was observed trailing the frontal edge. The interfacial region of an interior section of the plume featured opposing horizontal velocities and a ε value on the order of 10⁻⁶ m² s⁻³. A simplified mixing budget was used under significant assumptions to compare contributions from wind, tides, and frontal regions of the plume. The results from this order of magnitude analysis indicated that frontal processes (59%) dominated in overall mixing. This emphasizes the importance of adequate parameterization of river plume frontal processes in coastal predictive models.

DOI

10.1002/2015JC010988

Volume

121

Issue

2

First Page

1322

Last Page

1345

Comments

©2016. American Geophysical Union

NSUWorks Citation

K. D. Huguenard, D. J. Bogucki, D. G. Ortiz-Suslow, N. J. M. Laxague, J. H. MacMahan, T. M. Ozgokmen, Brian K. Haus, A. J. H. M. Reniers, J. Hargrove, Alexander Soloviev, and H. Graber. 2016. On the Nature of the Frontal Zone of the Choctawhatchee Bay Plume in the Gulf of Mexico .Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans , (2) : 1322 -1345. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/778.