Gulf

Modeling the Buoyancy-Driven Flow Due to River Discharge on the Texas-Louisisana Continental Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico

Chapter I. Introduction

  • Background
  • Review of Previous Plume Studies
  • The Texas-Louisiana Shelf
  • Objectives and Hypotheses
  • An Overview of the Dissertation

Chapter II. Methodology

  • Primitive Equations
  • Special Feature
    • The Smagorinsky scheme, The Mellor and Yamada Level-2.5 Turbulence Closure Model
    • The Multidimensional Positive Definite Advection Transport Algorithm
  • Vertically Integrated Vorticity Balance Equation

Chapter III. Numerical Model Formulation

  • Orthogonal Curvilinear Grid Generation
  • Model Parameters and Boundary Conditions
  • Data Sources and Initial Conditions
  • Lagrangian Particle Trajectories

Chapter IV. Results and Discussion

  • Homogeneous Initial Conditions
    • River Discharge
      • Horizontal Features
      • Vertical Structures
      • Diagnostic Analysis of the Buoyancy-Driven Flow
      • Vorticity Dynamics
      • Distribution of Lagrangian Particles and Turbulent Dispersion
      • Sensitivity Tests
      • Discussion
    • Wind Effects
      • Horizontal Features
      • Vertical Structures
      • Diagnostic Analysis of the Eind Effects
      • Summary and Discussion
  • Stratified Initial Conditions
    • Model Spin-Up
    • Spatially Uniform Winds
    • Gridded Winds
    • Distribution of Lagrangian Particles and Turbulent Dispersion
    • Summary

Chapter V. Summary and Concluding Remarks

References

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C