Physical factors controlling the temporal and spatial variability of freshwater plumes in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaiʻi

Date
2007
Authors
Ostrander, Christopher
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Abstract
While the physical forcing mechanisms that govern the outflows of major rivers throughout the world are well documented in the literature, comparably less research has been done to examine the mechanisms that govern the contributions of small rivers and streams to coastal ocean systems. These rivers and streams provide a direct means for the transport of anthropogenic and terrigenous materials from watersheds to coastal oceans. This study describes the temporal and spatial variability of freshwater plumes from Kaneohe Stream, Hawaii, USA, following storm events in the Kaneohe Bay watershed. Freshwater plumes were examined using a combination of fixed moorings, synoptic shipboard surveys, and lagrangian surface drifters. Data sets were collected over the course of 19 months from August 2005 to March 2007 with particular attention paid to storms during the boreal winters. Stream discharge and duration were found to exert a primary control on plume persistence in the southern Kaneohe Bay system. Time-series data show a strong coherence between wind forcing and surface currents which, in combination with data derived from shipboard and aerial surveys, indicate that the spatial variability of freshwater plumes in southern Kaneohe Bay is primarily determined by wind magnitude and direction.
Description
Thesis (M.S.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2007.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-70).
xii, 70 leaves, bound ill., maps 29 cm
Keywords
Fresh water -- Hawaii -- Kaneohe Bay, Kaneohe Bay (Hawaii)
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Theses for the degree of Master of Science (University of Hawaii at Manoa). Oceanography; no. 4220
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