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Wetland‐estuarine‐shelf interactions in the Plum Island Sound and Merrimack River in the Massachusetts coast

ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University

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Title Wetland‐estuarine‐shelf interactions in the Plum Island Sound and Merrimack River in the Massachusetts coast
Names Zhao, Liuzhi (creator)
Chen, Changsheng (creator)
Vallino, Joe (creator)
Hopkinson, Charles (creator)
Beardsley, Robert C. (creator)
Lin, Huichan (creator)
Lerczak, Jim (creator)
Date Issued 2010-10-16 (iso8601)
Abstract Wetland‐estuarine‐shelf interaction processes in the Plum Island Sound and
Merrimack River system in the Massachusetts coast are examined using the high‐resolution
unstructured grid, finite volume, primitive equations, coastal ocean model. The
computational domain covers the estuarine and entire intertidal area with a horizontal
resolution of 10–200 m. Driven by five tidal constituents forcing at the open boundary on
the inner shelf of the eastern coast of the Gulf of Maine, the model has successfully
simulated the 3‐D flooding/drying process, temporal variability, and spatial distribution of
salinity as well as the water exchange flux through the water passage between the Plum
Island Sound and Merrimack River. The model predicts a complex recirculation loop
around the Merrimack River, shelf, and Plum Island Sound. During the ebb tide, salt water
in the Plum Island Sound is injected into the Merrimack River, while during flood tide, a
significant amount of the freshwater in the Merrimack River is forced into Plum Island
Sound. This water exchange varies with the magnitude of freshwater discharge and wind
conditions, with a maximum contribution of ∼30%–40% variability in salinity over tidal
cycles in the mouth of the Merrimack River. Nonlinear tidal rectification results in a
complex clockwise residual recirculation loop around the Merrimack River, shelf, and
Plum Island Sound. The net water flux from Plum Island Sound to the Merrimack River
varies with the interaction between tide, river discharge, and wind forcing. This interaction,
in turn, affects the salt transport from this system to the shelf. Since the resulting water
transport into the shelf significantly varies with the variability of the wind, models that fail
to resolve this complex estuarine and shelf system could either overestimate or
underestimate the salt content over the shelf.
Genre Article
Topic Wetland-estuarine-shelf interactions
Identifier Zhao, L., C. Chen, J. Vallino, C. Hopkinson, R. C. Beardsley, H. Lin, and J. Lerczak (2010), Wetland‐estuarine‐shelf interactions in the Plum Island Sound and Merrimack River in the Massachusetts coast, J. Geophys. Res., 115, C10039, doi:10.1029/2009JC006085.

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