Near the ocean surface, river plumes influence stratification, buoyancy and transport of tracers, nutrients and pollutants. The extent to which river plumes influence the overall circulation, however, is generally poorly constrained. This work focuses on the South China Sea (SCS) and quantifies the dynamical impacts of the Mekong River plume, which is bound to significantly change in strength and seasonality in the next 20 years if the construction of over hundred dams moves ahead as planned. The dynamic impact of the freshwater fluxes on the SCS circulation are quantified by comparing submesoscale permitting and mesoscale resolving simulations with and without riverine input between 2011 and 2016. In the summer and early fall, when the Mekong discharge is at its peak, the greater stratification causes a residual mesoscale circulation through enhanced baroclinic instability. The residual circulation is shaped as an eddy train of positive and negative vorticity. Submesoscale fronts are responsible for transporting the freshwater offshore, shifting eastward the development of the residual mesoscale circulation, and further strengthening the residual eddy train in the submesoscale permitting case. Overall, the northward transport near the surface is intensified in the presence of riverine input. The significance of the mesoscale‐induced and submesoscale‐induced transport associated with the river plume is especially important in the second half of the summer monsoon season, when primary productivity has a secondary maximum. Circulation changes, and therefore productivity changes, should be anticipated if human activities modify the intensity and seasonality of the Mekong River plume.
This content will become publicly available on February 1, 2025
River plumes are a dominant forcing agent in the coastal ocean, transporting tracers and nutrients offshore and interacting with coastal circulation. In this study we characterize the novel “cross-shelf” regime of freshwater river plumes. Rather than remaining coastally trapped (a well-established regime), a wind-driven cross-shelf plume propagates for tens to over 100 km offshore of the river mouth while remaining coherent. We perform a suite of high-resolution idealized numerical experiments that offer insight into how the cross-shelf regime comes about and the parameter space it occupies. The wind-driven shelf flow comprising the geostrophic along-shelf and the Ekman cross-shelf transport advects the plume momentum and precludes geostrophic adjustment within the plume, leading to continuous generation of internal solitons in the offshore and upstream segment of the plume. The solitons propagate into the plume interior, transporting mass within the plume and suppressing plume widening. We examine an additional ultra-high-resolution case that resolves submesoscale dynamics. This case is dynamically consistent with the lower-resolution simulations, but additionally captures vigorous inertial-symmetric instability leading to frontal erosion and lateral mixing. We support these findings with observations of the Winyah Bay plume, where the cross-shelf regime is observed under analogous forcing conditions to the model. The study offers an in-depth introduction to the cross-shelf plume regime and a look into the submesoscale mixing phenomena arising in estuarine plumes.
In this study, we characterize a novel regime of freshwater river plumes. Rather than spreading near to or along the coast, under certain conditions river plumes may propagate away from the coast and remain coherent for tens to over 100 km offshore. Cross-shelf plumes provide a mechanism by which freshwater and river-borne materials may be transported into the open ocean, especially across wide continental shelves. Such plumes carry nutrients critical for biological productivity offshore and interact with large-scale oceanic features such as the Gulf Stream. We use high-resolution numerical modeling to examine how the cross-shelf regime arises and support our findings with observational evidence. We also study the mixing phenomena and fluid instabilities evolving within such plumes.
- Award ID(s):
- 2148480
- PAR ID:
- 10537376
- Publisher / Repository:
- AMS
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Physical Oceanography
- Volume:
- 54
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0022-3670
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 537 to 556
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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