MSCI 611 - Estuarine Hydrodynamics

Fall (3) Wang, Zhang

The class is a coordinated treatment of the physical oceanography of estuaries. The course will start with introduction of fundamental principles of fluid dynamics including conservation of mass, momentum, vorticity and the resulting irrotational, inviscid, and boundary layer basic flow patterns. It will then be extended to the core of estuarine hydrodynamics. After finishing the definition and classification of estuaries, the focus will be shifted toward an analytic description of the major physical processes in the estuaries that include the governing equation for tidal dynamics, gravitation circulation and wind-driven circulation along with their analytical solutions and the associated physical interpretations. The role of turbulence mixing in the stratified shear flow regime of estuaries will be illustrated. Lastly, the important topic of interaction between estuaries and shelf sea will also get introduced.