The Physical Effects of the Great Lakes on Tributaries and Wetlands

Abstract

Wetlands and tributary confluences are susceptible to physical influences imposed by the Great Lakes, particularly through the effects of short and long-term water level fluctuations and accompanying transport disruptions including flow and transport reversals. With there being few, if any, direct field observations of these disruptions based upon velocity measurements, the objective of this paper is to review the possible physical effects on these regions by first, reviewing the relevant contributing physics known about the Great Lakes; second, contrasting possible marine estuary transport mechanisms with what little is published about the Great Lakes circumstances; and third, summarizing modeled results exemplifying these behaviors from a study ofSandusky Bay, Lake Erie. Because it exhibits the strongest response to storms and the clearest measureable signals resulting from them, attention is centered on Lake Erie. In contrast to a typical research paper, the objective herein is to provide a summary of what is known and commonly accepted about these physics which can serve as a backdrop for the other papers in this special issue.