THE IMPACT OF A RIVER MOUTH BAR ON THE SPREADING OF RIVER PLUME IN AN IDEALIZED ESTUARY
River plume is the form of riverine brackish water spreading in a continental shelf after leaving river mouth.The spreading of a river plume is affected by many external forcings and bathymetry near river mouth,of which mouth bar is an important one.Taking an idealized estuary as an example,we studied the effect of mouth bar using the ROMS ocean model on plume spreading in terms of outflow regime,extent of the plumes,and the transport of freshwater along coastal current in far-field region.Results demonstrate that the existence of the mouth bar decreases the outflow velocity but increases the stratification in estuary mouth and the exiting angle to downstream coastline.In addition,it decreases the radius of the plume bulge and the width of the coastal alongshore current.Eventually,it reduces the freshwater transport in the alongshore flow.This study provided an important reference for understanding the bathymetric effect on the spreading of river plume and the transport of terrestrial materials into the shelf.
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维普
