Research Summaries

Back Collaborative Research: Benthic Exchange Events and Near Boundary Mixing on the Continental Shelf

Fiscal Year 2010
Division Graduate School of Engineering & Applied Science
Department Oceanography
Investigator(s) Stanton, Timothy P.
Sponsor National Science Foundation (NSF)
Summary We propose an innovative field study examining the dynamics of benthic boundary layer exchange events on the Monterey Bay shelf. Our objectives are to (1) identify processes responsible for resuspension of benthic material on the mid-to outer-shelf, (2) improve our understanding of intrusion formation mechanisms, (3) investigate the fate of material transported in intrusions, and (4) investigate event-scale and seasonal variability in intrusion dynamics. We hypothesize that gravitational collapse after internal-wave-forced mixing drives intrusions; however, the experiment is designed to resolve benthic exchange generally, including advective mechanisms such as eddies, shelf currents, or convergent bottom Ekmann fluxes. Measurements will include a central benthic station, an offshore moored profiler station and cross-shelf autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) surveys spanning the fixed stations. The observational strategy is to directly observe benthic exchange: from the seafloor interface through the stratified outer boundary layer, across the entire water column, and then into the cross-shelf dimension.
Keywords
Publications Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal
Data Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal