The Fraser River plume is the brackish surface layer formed when the Fraser River discharges into the Strait of Georgia. Two approaches to understanding the dynamics of the plume are discussed. Initially, a series of field observations was carried out in the plume. These consisted mainly of CSTD profiles and current profiles in the upper 10-20 meters of the water column. Also, a surface current meter was installed for 34 days at the mouth of the Fraser River. The principal conclusions of the field observations are: the plume is strongly sheared in the vertical and strongly stratified; this vertical structure is most apparent in the vicinity of the river mouth, and around the time of maximum river discharge (near low water in the Strait); and that the water moving outward from the river mouth subsequently acquires velocities and salinities appropriate to the water beneath it with length and time scales for this change of order 50 km and 8 hours. The plume thickness varies between 0 and 10 meters; the salinity varies from 0 to that of the water beneath it (approx. 25 ‰); and the difference between the plume velocity and that of the water beneath it varies from up to 3.5 m/sec to 0 m/sec, and is typically of order 0.5 m/sec over much of the plume area.
Inspired by the field data, a model of the thin upper layer was developed. The independent variables are the two components of transport in the upper layer, the thickness of the layer, and the integrated salinity in the upper layer. The bottom of the upper layer has been tentatively defined by an isopycnal surface. The mixing across this interface is modelled by an
upward flux of salt water (entrainment), and a downward flux of brackish water (termed depletion in this work). The dynamical effects included in this model are: the local time derivative; the field accelerations; the buoyant spreading pressure gradient (including the effects of salinity on the density field); the entrainment of tidally moving water and the loss by the depletion mechanism of water with the plume momentum; the frictional stress between the plume and the water beneath it; the forcing due to the baroclinic tidal slopes; and the Coriolis force. Subsets of the full model equations are examined, to clarify certain aspects of the plume dynamics. Preliminary results from the numerical solution of the full model eguations are presented, and a comparison is made between the paths of lagrangian trackers produced by the model and drogue tracks observed in the plume. Future improvements to the model are discussed. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/21303 |
| Date | January 1977 |
| Creators | Stronach, J. A. |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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