Morphology and physical parameters of the Claromecó Creek Estuary, Argentina

CARBONE, M. E.,; PICCOLO, M. C.; PERILLO, G.M.E.

THALASSAS (SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA)

Lugar: SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA); Año: 2005 vol. 21 p. 55 - 63

0212-5919

The Claromeco river is located in the southeast of the Buenos Aires province. The estuary of theClaromeco river is a coastal plain one. An important resort area is associated to the estuary. The main economical activities of the coastal area are fishing and tourism. There are some coastal management programs related to the estuary. One of them is to construct a marina. Unfortunately, there are not previous investigation done in this estuary, therefore the aim of this research is to begin the preliminary studies of the physical characteristics of the Claromeco estuary. At each station, vertical profiles of velocity, salinity, temperature and suspended sediment were obtained during the whole tidal cycle. The turbulent mixing due to tides, wind and the low depth of theestuary originates an homogeneous water column. The suspended sediment transport is low even during ebb tide. There is a significant spatial salinity distribution across the river section of 6.4 in 50 m distance between the north the center stations during the flooding. Being the central station the one that presented the highest tides. There is no a significant salinity spatial variation during ebb. The mean water temperature was 21.5º C with vertical temperatures gradients of 0.88ºC/m in the north station.