Streaming Media
Presentation Abstract
Flow within Juan de Fuca Strait (JDF) accounts for the majority of the water entering and leaving the Salish Sea. As such, the health of the Sea’s diverse basins is strongly impacted by the composition and flux of the water within this strait. Complex flow at the mouth of the JDF means that a catalogue of Pacific currents, with different physical and chemical characteristics, play a role in the inflow. Within the Salish Sea phenomena such as variable river discharge and wind driven upwelling within the basins adds to the variability of the makeup and path of the water leaving. This work aims to provide a comprehensive evaluation of how the chemical and physical composition of the water entering and leaving the Salish Sea varies seasonally and interannually. To do this, we applied Lagrangian tracking to a three-dimensional physical-biological-chemical ocean circulation model of the region, SalishSeaCast, looking at both water parcel trajectories and the volumetric flow of biogeochemical tracers (silicon, nitrate, carbon, temperature, salinity) through the Sea. This poster outlines five years of simulated flow and tracer flux into and out of the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound, highlighting the distinct difference between summer and winter, and interannual trends. What this tells us about the net fluxes of biogeochemical tracers, the pathways of pollutants such as plastics, and what this means for the sensitivity of the of the Salish Sea to human influence and climate change will be discussed.
Session Title
Poster Session 1: Applied Research & Climate Change
Conference Track
SSE14: Posters
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2022 : Online)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE-posters-149
Start Date
26-4-2022 4:00 PM
End Date
26-4-2022 4:30 PM
Type of Presentation
Poster
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Estuarine hydrology--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Ocean currents--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Lagrangian functions
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons
Lagrangian analysis of seasonal and interannual trends in estuarine flow composition and path between Juan de Fuca Strait and Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound
Flow within Juan de Fuca Strait (JDF) accounts for the majority of the water entering and leaving the Salish Sea. As such, the health of the Sea’s diverse basins is strongly impacted by the composition and flux of the water within this strait. Complex flow at the mouth of the JDF means that a catalogue of Pacific currents, with different physical and chemical characteristics, play a role in the inflow. Within the Salish Sea phenomena such as variable river discharge and wind driven upwelling within the basins adds to the variability of the makeup and path of the water leaving. This work aims to provide a comprehensive evaluation of how the chemical and physical composition of the water entering and leaving the Salish Sea varies seasonally and interannually. To do this, we applied Lagrangian tracking to a three-dimensional physical-biological-chemical ocean circulation model of the region, SalishSeaCast, looking at both water parcel trajectories and the volumetric flow of biogeochemical tracers (silicon, nitrate, carbon, temperature, salinity) through the Sea. This poster outlines five years of simulated flow and tracer flux into and out of the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound, highlighting the distinct difference between summer and winter, and interannual trends. What this tells us about the net fluxes of biogeochemical tracers, the pathways of pollutants such as plastics, and what this means for the sensitivity of the of the Salish Sea to human influence and climate change will be discussed.
