The response of an open stratified bay to wind forcing |
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| Authors: | KF Drinkwater |
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| Institution: | Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Physical and Chemical Sciences Branch , Bedford Institute of Oceanography , Box 1006, Dartmouth, N.S., B2Y 4A2 |
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| Abstract: | Abstract Current and temperature measurements collected during the summers of 1974, 1975 and 1979 are used to investigate the wind‐induced response of St Georges Bay, Nova Scotia. A multivariate‐frequency response analysis shows that temperature and the along‐bay component of current in the lower layer are coherent with the local wind stress at periods of 2–6 d, with the wind stress accounting for 35–65% of the observed variances. Winds are also coherent with the surface currents but account for only 20–25% of the variance. Two dynamically different regions are identified. Near the entrance to the bay, cross‐bay wind stresses (τx) produce Ekman drift with compensating flow in the lower layer. In the interior of the bay, the near‐bottom currents are coherent with along‐bay (τy) wind stresses and are directed upwind. These currents are topographically steered and a response to surface pressure gradients set up by the wind. The surface gradients are believed to be part of the wind‐induced set‐up within the southern Gulf of St Lawrence. |
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