Process studies of the Non-Linear dynamics of the Gaspe current

CANDIE was applied to the process study of the Gaspe Current and cyclonic circulation over the northwestern Gulf of St. Lawrence (NWG). The model is driven by river discharge and barotropic boundary flows. Two types of model domains are used: an idealized basin with a flat bottom and piecewise coastline and a realistic basin with model-resolved NWG bathymetry. The model domains are initially filled with horizontally uniform but vertically stratified waters. The river discharge is expressed in terms of lower salinity and a weak barotropic inflow in the upper waters at the estuary head.

The early developments of the estuarine plume and coastal current system driven by the river discharge in the both basins are qualitatively similar. After a short-period adjustment, a buoyant plume is developed near the estuary mouth, with a surface-intensified coastal current advecting the estuarine water seaward in the direction of Kelvin wave propagation. The coastal current initially follows the coastline closely but later becomes unstable with backward-breaking waves developed along the outer edge of the current. The model results were explained in more details in the following two manuscripts:

(A) The Gaspe Current and Cyclonic Motion Over the Northwestern Gulf of St. Lawrence (In Proceedings of International Conference on Estuarine and Coastal Modeling.

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(B) Dynamics of a Buoyancy-Driven Coastal Jet: The Gaspe Current (submitted to Journal of Physical Oceanography)

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Animation of Process studies of the Gaspe current