Circulation of the water flow in the main channel of San Antonio Bay, Argentina

CARBONE, M.E.; ALBERDI, E.; PERILLO, G.M.E.; PICCOLO, M.C.; DRAGANI, W.D.

Bahía Blanca

Congreso; ECSA 44: SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT OF ESTUARIES AND COASTS: A TALE OF TWO HEMISPHERES; 2008

Estuarine Coastal Science Association-Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía

San Antonio Bay is located in the north-western extreme of the San Matías Gulf. It is a semi-circular macrotidal envirornment withan area of 160 km2 characterised by tidal flats, salt marshes, tidal channels and spits on both sides of the main entrance inlet, whichprotect them from the energy coming from the gulf. The aim of this study is to analyse the circulation of the main tidal channel of thebay by means ofa three dimensional water modelling system: Mohid. Numerical simulations are carried out and validated using thebathymetries of both the inner and the outer area of the channel, local wind speed, tides and currents. The implementedcomputational grid has 300 grid points in the east-west and the north-south directions and the sigma coordinate is used in thevertical. The residual currents is 0.04 m s- and flows in the 63º direction and the mean NS and EW components are 0.39 m s-1 and0.57 m s-1, respectively.Maximum observed speed is 0.7223 m s-1. Both, NS and EW components show marked oscillations due tothe semidiurnal tidal regime. Ebb speeds are in general higher than flood ones