Abstract
Two years of wind and water level data and 18 months of runoff data from Weeks Bay, Alabama, a small tributary estuary of Mobile Bay have been analyzed. These data were supplemented with occasional current meter records of a few months’ duration. The subtidal barotropic exchange of water between Weeks Bay and Mobile Bay is predominantly a response to the shelf-estuarine exchange of waters between the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay. The local north-south wind stress modifies this response at very low frequencies. Runoff to Weeks Bay is episodic and of short duration. It drives shortlived exhanges between the two bays. These exchanges are modified by the local winds and are probably strongly baroclinic.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Chuang, W. S. and Wm. J. Wiseman, Jr., 1983: Coastal sea level response to frontal passages on the Louisiana-Texas shelf. J. Geophys. Res., 88, 2615–2620.
Crance, J. H., 1971: Description of Alabama estuarine areas — cooperative Gulf of Mexico estuarine inventory. Alabama Mar. Res. Bull., 6, 85 pp.
DiMego, G. W., L. F. Bosart and G. W. Endersen, 1976: An examination of the frequency and mean conditions surrounding frontal incursions into the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Mon. Weather Rev., 104, 709–718.
Fernandez-Partagas, J. and C. N. K. Mooers, 1975: Some front characteristics over the eastern Gulf of Mexico and surrounding land areas. Final report to BLM under contract 08550-CT4-L6.
Jenkins, G. M. and D. G. Watts, 1968: Spectral analysis and its applications. Holden-Day, 525 pp.
Legier, D. M., 1983: Empirical orthogonal function analysis of wind vectors over the tropical Pacific region. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. 64, 234–241.
Overland, J. E. and R. W. Preisendorfer, 1982: A significance test for the principal components applied to a cyclone climatology. Mon. Weather Rev., 110, 1–4.
Schroeder, W. W. and Wm. J. Wiseman, Jr., 1986: Low-frequency shelf-estuarine exchange processes in Mobile Bay and other estuarine systems on the northern Gulf of Mexico. Estuarine Variability. D. Wolfe, Ed., Academic Press, 355–367.
Wiseman, Wm. J., Jr., W. W. Schroeder and S. P. Dinhel, 1988: Shelf-estuarine water exchanges between the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay, Alabama. Amer. Fish. Soc. Symp., 3, 1–8.
Wong, K. C. and R. W. Garvine, 1984: Observation of wind-induced subtidal variability in the Delaware Estuary. J. Geophys. Res., 89, 10589–10597.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1990 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Schroeder, W.W., Wiseman, W.J., Dinnel, S.P. (1990). Wind and River Induced Fluctuations in a Small, Shallow, Tributary Estuary. In: Cheng, R.T. (eds) Residual Currents and Long-term Transport. Coastal and Estuarine Studies, vol 38. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9061-9_33
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9061-9_33
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-9063-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-9061-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive