Influence of estuarine tidal mixing on structure and spatial scales of large river plumes
The Yenisei and Khatanga rivers are among the largest estuarine rivers that inflow to the Arctic Ocean. Discharge of the Yenisei River is 1 order of magnitude larger than that of the Khatanga River. However, spatial scales of buoyant plumes formed by freshwater runoff from the Yenisei and Khatanga g...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:afc2bce90315430b84bc5ce4455b1edb 2023-05-15T15:10:49+02:00 Influence of estuarine tidal mixing on structure and spatial scales of large river plumes A. Osadchiev I. Medvedev S. Shchuka M. Kulikov E. Spivak M. Pisareva I. Semiletov 2020-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-781-2020 https://doaj.org/article/afc2bce90315430b84bc5ce4455b1edb EN eng Copernicus Publications https://os.copernicus.org/articles/16/781/2020/os-16-781-2020.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1812-0784 https://doaj.org/toc/1812-0792 doi:10.5194/os-16-781-2020 1812-0784 1812-0792 https://doaj.org/article/afc2bce90315430b84bc5ce4455b1edb Ocean Science, Vol 16, Pp 781-798 (2020) Geography. Anthropology. Recreation G Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-781-2020 2022-12-31T15:18:28Z The Yenisei and Khatanga rivers are among the largest estuarine rivers that inflow to the Arctic Ocean. Discharge of the Yenisei River is 1 order of magnitude larger than that of the Khatanga River. However, spatial scales of buoyant plumes formed by freshwater runoff from the Yenisei and Khatanga gulfs are similar. This feature is caused by different tidal forcing in these estuaries, which have similar sizes, climate conditions, and geomorphology. The Khatanga discharge experiences strong tidal forcing that causes formation of a diluted bottom-advected plume in the Khatanga Gulf. This deep and weakly stratified plume has a small freshwater fraction and therefore occupies a large area on the shelf. The Yenisei Gulf, on the other hand, is a salt-wedge estuary that receives a large freshwater discharge and is less affected by tidal mixing due to low tidal velocities. As a result, the low-salinity and strongly stratified Yenisei plume has a large freshwater fraction and its horizontal size is relatively small. The results show that estuarine tidal mixing determines freshwater fraction in these river plumes, which governs their depth and area after they spread from estuaries to coastal sea. Therefore, the influence of estuarine mixing on spatial scales of a large river plume can be of the same importance as the roles of river discharge rate and wind forcing. In particular, plumes with similar areas can be formed by rivers with significantly different discharge rates, as illustrated by the Yenisei and Khatanga plumes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ocean khatanga Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Arctic Ocean Yenisei River ENVELOPE(84.738,84.738,69.718,69.718) Ocean Science 16 4 781 798 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Geography. Anthropology. Recreation G Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
spellingShingle |
Geography. Anthropology. Recreation G Environmental sciences GE1-350 A. Osadchiev I. Medvedev S. Shchuka M. Kulikov E. Spivak M. Pisareva I. Semiletov Influence of estuarine tidal mixing on structure and spatial scales of large river plumes |
topic_facet |
Geography. Anthropology. Recreation G Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
The Yenisei and Khatanga rivers are among the largest estuarine rivers that inflow to the Arctic Ocean. Discharge of the Yenisei River is 1 order of magnitude larger than that of the Khatanga River. However, spatial scales of buoyant plumes formed by freshwater runoff from the Yenisei and Khatanga gulfs are similar. This feature is caused by different tidal forcing in these estuaries, which have similar sizes, climate conditions, and geomorphology. The Khatanga discharge experiences strong tidal forcing that causes formation of a diluted bottom-advected plume in the Khatanga Gulf. This deep and weakly stratified plume has a small freshwater fraction and therefore occupies a large area on the shelf. The Yenisei Gulf, on the other hand, is a salt-wedge estuary that receives a large freshwater discharge and is less affected by tidal mixing due to low tidal velocities. As a result, the low-salinity and strongly stratified Yenisei plume has a large freshwater fraction and its horizontal size is relatively small. The results show that estuarine tidal mixing determines freshwater fraction in these river plumes, which governs their depth and area after they spread from estuaries to coastal sea. Therefore, the influence of estuarine mixing on spatial scales of a large river plume can be of the same importance as the roles of river discharge rate and wind forcing. In particular, plumes with similar areas can be formed by rivers with significantly different discharge rates, as illustrated by the Yenisei and Khatanga plumes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
A. Osadchiev I. Medvedev S. Shchuka M. Kulikov E. Spivak M. Pisareva I. Semiletov |
author_facet |
A. Osadchiev I. Medvedev S. Shchuka M. Kulikov E. Spivak M. Pisareva I. Semiletov |
author_sort |
A. Osadchiev |
title |
Influence of estuarine tidal mixing on structure and spatial scales of large river plumes |
title_short |
Influence of estuarine tidal mixing on structure and spatial scales of large river plumes |
title_full |
Influence of estuarine tidal mixing on structure and spatial scales of large river plumes |
title_fullStr |
Influence of estuarine tidal mixing on structure and spatial scales of large river plumes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Influence of estuarine tidal mixing on structure and spatial scales of large river plumes |
title_sort |
influence of estuarine tidal mixing on structure and spatial scales of large river plumes |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-781-2020 https://doaj.org/article/afc2bce90315430b84bc5ce4455b1edb |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(84.738,84.738,69.718,69.718) |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Yenisei River |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Yenisei River |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean khatanga |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean khatanga |
op_source |
Ocean Science, Vol 16, Pp 781-798 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://os.copernicus.org/articles/16/781/2020/os-16-781-2020.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1812-0784 https://doaj.org/toc/1812-0792 doi:10.5194/os-16-781-2020 1812-0784 1812-0792 https://doaj.org/article/afc2bce90315430b84bc5ce4455b1edb |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-781-2020 |
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Ocean Science |
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16 |
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4 |
container_start_page |
781 |
op_container_end_page |
798 |
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