Models of cross shelf transport introduced by the Lofoten Maelstrom

• Main Author: A. Ommundsen
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2000
• Subjects: Maelstrom; Particle motion; Shelf dynamics; Tidal currents; Water exchange; Lofoten; Lofotodden; Vestfjorden
• 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

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.