Models of cross shelf transport introduced by the Lofoten Maelstrom

The drift of particles released in the tidal current (Moskstraumen) near Lofotodden, located at 671500N; 121500E; has been studied. The periodical tidal current combined with a background current is found to introduce a transport between Vestfjorden inside Lofotodden and the shelf outside. This part...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: A. Ommundsen
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2000
Subjects:
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.596.6047
http://folk.uio.no/bjorng/moskstraumen/bilder/csr_atle.pdf
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Summary:The drift of particles released in the tidal current (Moskstraumen) near Lofotodden, located at 671500N; 121500E; has been studied. The periodical tidal current combined with a background current is found to introduce a transport between Vestfjorden inside Lofotodden and the shelf outside. This particular transport may be important for the drift of cod eggs, larvae and other important biological and chemical tracers. A fine-resolution numerical model provided the Eulerian tidal current field based on which the particle trajectories are calculated using a Lagrangian particle tracking technique. The tracking algorithm was extended by a random-walk method to simulate small scale turbulence. An idealized current model of the area is also developed for use as a simplification tool to reveal the basic mechanisms of the drift and to demonstrate the sensibility of time stepping in numerical integration.r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.