Sill dynamics and fjord deep water renewal: Idealized modeling study

Fjord exchange circulation and its response to abrupt changes in forcing is examined by means of an idealized modeling experiment. Puget Sound, a fjord-type estuary in western North America (State of Washington), is the main context for this study. Parameters of the idealized model are representative of the entrance sill at Admiralty Inlet and the Main Basin of Puget Sound. Sensitivity to some of the model parameters relevant to a 3D realistic model is discussed. An idealized tidal forcing with fortnightly modulation drives a qualitatively realistic cycle of exchange circulation while the other boundary conditions are kept fixed in time. The cycle is characterized by fortnightly pulses of deep water intrusions with a sharp front at the leading edge and reversed circulation cells below the sill depth developing between the intrusions. This basic state is then perturbed and response of the circulation to abrupt changes in oceanic salinity and river discharge is examined.