Numerical study on inter-tidal transports in coastal seas

Abstract

Inter-tidal (subtidal) transport processes in coastal sea depend on the residual motion, turbulent dispersion and relevant sources/sinks. In Feng et al. (2008), an updated Lagrangian inter-tidal transport equation, as well as new concept of Lagrangian inter-tidal concentration (LIC), has been proposed for a general nonlinear shallow water system. In the present study, the LIC is numerically applied for the first time to passive tracers in idealized settings and salinity in the Bohai Sea, China. Circulation and tracer motion in the three idealized model seas with different topography or coastline, termed as ‘flat-bottom’, ‘stairs’ and ‘cape’ case, respectively, are simulated. The dependence of the LIC on initial tidal phase suggests that the nonlinearities in the stairs and cape cases are stronger than that in the flat-bottom case. Therefore, the ‘flat-bottom’ case still meets the convectively weakly nonlinear condition. For the Bohai Sea, the simulation results show that most parts of it still meet the weakly nonlinear condition. However, the dependence of the LIS (Lagrangian inter-tidal salinity) on initial tidal phase is significant around the southern headland of the Liaodong Peninsula and near the mouth of the Yellow River. The nonlinearity in the former region is mainly related to the complicated coastlines, and that in the latter region is due to the presence of the estuarine salinity front.