A model-dye comparison experiment in the tidal mixing front zone on the southern flank of Georges Bank

‘Tidal mixing’ describes tidal mixing in shelf seas, where the water is shallow and tidal currents can be much faster than in the deep ocean. Most of the energy lost from the tide through friction is first converted into turbulence, which then makes a very effective mixing mechanism, stirring the Sun’s heat downwards. Shelf seas at temperate latitudes in summer are divided into stratified regions and vertically mixed regions, depending on the tidal streams’ strength and the water depth. The transition from one to the other happens rapidly and creates a tidal mixing front. Tidal mixing in estuaries is also discussed along with the harnessing of tides to generate electricity.

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Circulation, hydrographic structure and mixing at tidal fronts: the view from Georges Bank

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series A Physical and Engineering Sciences ◽

10.1098/rsta.1993.0058 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 343 (1669) ◽

pp. 447-460 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Keyword(s):

Field Studies ◽

Temporal Variations ◽

Tidal Mixing ◽

Small Scale ◽

Georges Bank ◽

Tidal Period ◽

Hydrographic Structure ◽

Frontal Structure ◽

Northern Side ◽

Scale Turbulence

The steep slope on the northern side of Georges Bank and its location in the Fundy-Maine tidal system result in a persistent summertime frontal system comprising a tidal-mixing front and a stratified tide-topography interaction at the Bank edge. Recent field studies have provided a high-resolution description of the circulation, hydrographic structure and mixing in the region. Frontal features include an along-front residual jet, a surface convergence zone, regular variations in frontal structure and position over the tidal period and tidal modulation cycle, largeamplitude internal waves, and strong spatial and temporal variations in small-scale turbulence. The observations suggest that the magnitude of cross-front and vertical exchange in frontal regions can be site-specific depending on the relative importance of the underlying physical processes.

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Modeling growth of Atlantic cod larvae on the southern flank of Georges Bank in the tidal-front circulation during May 1999

Deep Sea Research Part II Topical Studies in Oceanography ◽

10.1016/j.dsr2.2006.08.012 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 53 (23-24) ◽

pp. 2771-2788 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

R.G. Lough ◽

E.A. Broughton ◽

L.J. Buckley ◽

L.S. Incze ◽

K. Pehrson Edwards ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Atlantic Cod ◽

Georges Bank ◽

Tidal Front ◽

Atlantic Cod Larvae ◽

Southern Flank ◽

Modeling Growth

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The structure of the tidal mixing front in the region of Shantar Islands (Sea of Okhotsk) according to data of satellite observations

Izvestiya Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics ◽

10.1134/s0001433812090174 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 48 (9) ◽

pp. 999-1005 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

I. A. Zhabin ◽

V. A. Dubina

Keyword(s):

Sea Of Okhotsk ◽

Satellite Observations ◽

Tidal Mixing ◽

Tidal Mixing Front ◽

Shantar Islands

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An Upper Bound for the Tidally Rectified Current at One Location on the Southern Flank of Georges Bank

Journal of Physical Oceanography ◽

10.1175/1520-0485(1983)013<1452:aubftt>2.0.co;2 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 13 (8) ◽

pp. 1452-1460 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Bradford Butman ◽

Marlene Noble ◽

David C. Chapman ◽

Robert C. Beardsley

Keyword(s):

Upper Bound ◽

Georges Bank ◽

Southern Flank

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Biological studies in the vicinity of a shallow-sea tidal mixing front. I. Physical and chemical background

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.1985.0125 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 310 (1146) ◽

pp. 407-433 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Keyword(s):

Ammonium Nitrogen ◽

Tidal Mixing ◽

Irish Sea ◽

Total Biomass ◽

Shallow Sea ◽

High Biological Activity ◽

Biological Studies ◽

Chemical Background ◽

Tidal Mixing Front ◽

Physical And Chemical

A study has been made of the distribution and activities of bacteria and zooplankton as they varied seasonally in 1980 and 1981 in the vicinity of a shallow-sea tidal mixing front in the western Irish Sea (approximate position 53° 20' N, 5° 45' W to 53° 50' N, 5° 0' W ). This paper presents the physical and chemical background to these studies as shown by the variations in temperature and salinity and concentrations of chlorophyll a , phaeopigments, cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP), nitrate, nitrite and ammonium nitrogen, in sections normal to the front. Observations at drogue stations were made to establish the extent of diurnal variations in these properties but these appeared to be small relative to other variations. As the front developed, higher chlorophyll a concentrations appeared in the surface stratified water, in contrast to the bottom stratified water and mixed water, with highest concentrations at the surface at the stratified side of the front and in subsurface patches in the vicinity of the pycnocline. As the phytoplankton populations increased nitrate became depleted in the surface stratified water but nitrite and ammonium nitrogen concentrations remained at about the same levels. Cellular ATP concentration did not appear to be a useful measure of total biomass but indicated high biological activity in the surface stratified water.

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