Responses of upper Chesapeake Bay to variations in discharge of the Susquehanna River
Responses of upper Chesapeake Bay to variations in discharge of the Susquehanna River
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DOI：
10.2307/1352096
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发表时间：
1986-12
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
J. Schubel;D. W. Pritchard
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
J. Schubel;D. W. Pritchard
上切萨皮克湾可以定义为从湾头向海延伸至波托马克河口的海湾部分。萨斯奎哈纳河口提供了该海湾河段淡水输入总量的约 87%。除了夏季和初秋飓风造成的罕见例外情况外，萨斯奎哈纳河具有中纬度河流典型的明确的季节性流量模式：冬末和初春的流量较高，随后整个夏季和秋季的流量为低至中等。在这个总体季节框架内，早春小清新和夏秋低流量时期的年际变化较大。河流流量的巨大季节性变化对这种波动信号产生了显着的响应，这在切萨皮克湾上游环境的变化中得到了体现。上海湾的分层、环流、沉积、营养水平、溶解氧水平以及许多其他重要的特征特性和过程都与萨斯奎哈纳河流量的变化密切相关。影响不仅限于海湾本身。上海湾支流河口的更新受到萨斯奎哈纳河流量变化的控制。
Upper Chesapeake Bay can be defined as the segment of the bay extending from its head seaward to the mouth of the Potomac Estuary. The Susquehanna River Estuary provides approximately 87% of the total freshwater input to this reach of the bay. With infrequent exceptions, resulting from summer and early fall hurricanes, the Susquehanna River has a well-defined seasonal flow pattern typical of mid-latitude rivers: high discharge in late winter and early spring, followed by low-to-moderate discharge throughout the summer and autumn. Within this general seasonal framework, there are large year-to-year variations in the magnitude of the early spring freshet and of the summer-fall period of low flow. The large seasonal variations in river flow produce significant responses to this fluctuating signal which are manifested in variations in the milieu of upper Chesapeake Bay. Stratification, circulation, sedimentation, nutrient levels, dissolved oxygen levels, and a number of other important and characteristic properties and processes of the upper bay all are closely coupled to variations in discharge of the Susquehanna River. Effects are not limited to the bay proper. Renewal of the tributary estuaries of the upper bay is controlled by variations in flow of the Susquehanna River.