On the response of the horizontal mean vertical density distribution in a fjord to low-frequency density fluctuations in the coastal water

Abstract

Baroclinic water exchange through a fjord mouth, driven by a slowly varying density field outside the mouth, is modelled by a simple quasi-steady frictionless model. It is assumed that a certain fraction of the horizontal pressure difference between the coastal water and the fjord is used to accelerate the fluid into the mouth. The continuous vertical density distribution in the fjord, which changes in response to the water exchange, is modelled using a time-dependent, one-dimensional advective-diffusive ‘filling-box’ type of model. The model has been tested against an almost one-year-long time series of salinity and temperature from the Ørsta fjord (horizontal surface area about 15 km2) on the Norwegian west coast. It is found that for this particular fjord, the mean externally forced baroclinic water exchange is one order of magnitude greater than the mean water exchange driven by the estuarine circulation (600 and 60 m3 s-1 respectively). Such a vigorous water exchange between a fjord and the external area implies that the time-averaged concentrations of many biological and chemical species above the sill level in the fjord are approximately equal to those in the coastal water outside the fjords.