Estuarine versus transient flow regimes in Juan de Fuca Strait

Abstract

Residual currents in Juan de Fuca Strait are observed to switch between two fundamental states: estuarine and transient. The estuarine regime, which prevails roughly 90% of the time in summer and 55% of the time in winter, has a fortnightly modulated, three-layer structure characterized by strong (∼50 cm s-1) outflow above 60 ± 15 m depth, moderate (∼25 cm s-1) inflow between 60 and 125 m depth, and weak (∼10 cm s-1) inflow below 125 ± 10 m depth. Rotation increases the upper layer depth by 40 m on the northern side of the channel and upwelling-favorable coastal winds augment inflow in the bottom layer by as much as 5 cm s-1. Rotation, combined with modulation of the estuarine currents by tidal mixing in the eastern strait, leads to fortnightly variability in the along-channel velocity and cross-channel positioning of the core flow regions. Transient flows, which occur roughly 10% of the time in summer and 45% of the time in winter, are rapidly evolving, horizontally and vertically sheared "reversals" in the estuarine circulation generated during poleward wind events along the outer coast. Major events can persist for several weeks, force a net inward transport, and give rise to an O(10) km wide, surface-intensified, O(100) cm s-1 inflow along the southern (Olympic Peninsula) boundary of the strait. This "Olympic Peninsula Countercurrent" is typically accompanied by an abrupt decrease in salinity, indicating that it is a buoyancy flow originating with low-density water on the northern Washington shelf. Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union.