Print Email Facebook Twitter The relation between subtidal sea level fluctuations and atmospheric forcing in the Bahia Bianca Estuary, Argentina Title The relation between subtidal sea level fluctuations and atmospheric forcing in the Bahia Bianca Estuary, Argentina Author Favier, T. Project Molengraaff Fonds Date 2001 Abstract This report deals with the results of a traineeship carried out as part of the MSc. program of Physical Geography at the Faculty of Geographical Sciences at Utrecht University. In this report, a review is presented of the tidal characteristics in the Bahia Bianca Estuary, a mesotidal coastal plain estuary in the southwest of the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. In the research, time series of sea level observations from three coastal stations in the Bahia Bianca Estuary, covering a full year time span, were examined. The tidal signal and the tidal constituents were calculated from the time series with the Godan program. It showed that M2 is the most important main constituent, and that the shallow water tides increase considerably from the mouth to the head of the estuary. Descriptive statistics applied to the sea level time series showed that the tidal wave is asymmetric, with asymmetry increasing from the mouth to the head of the estuary. Also in this report, a review of the characteristics of the subtidal sea level fluctuations in the Bahia Bianca Estuary is presented. The subtidal sea level fluctuations were examined with harmonic analysis. It showed that fluctuations with large periods (>25 days) predominated in the subtidal sea level spectra, and that minor peaks occur at 0.08, 0.12 and 0.20 cycles per day. The subtidal sea level fluctuations at the three coastal stations coincide to a high degree, especially for the two stations that are located along the tidal channel. The relation between subtidal sea level fluctuations and atmospheric forcing in the Bahia Bianca Estuary is further examined. To determine this relation, a wind stress time series was calculated from wind speed and wind direction data measured at a meteorological station in the Bahia Bianca Estuary during the same period. Next, the relation between subtidal sea level fluctuations and wind stress was quantified by cross spectrum analysis. It showed that the relation is significant with a confidence level of 95%. In terms of coherence, this relation is strongest for winds blowing from the NE, the direction in which the strongest winds were recorded. Southern cross-shore winds coming from the Bahia Bianca Estuary generally lead to a set up. Northern and northeastern cross-shore winds coming from the Pampas generally cause a set down. To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d8956065-cb88-4aa9-a531-58ce7e612b05 Publisher Utrecht University Part of collection Geoscience Reports Document type report Rights (c) Tim Favier Files PDF Favier (2001).pdf 1.38 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid%3Ad8956065-cb88-4aa9-a531-58ce7e612b05/datastream/OBJ/view