Numerical Study on River Plumes on a Southern Hemisphere Coast

Abstract

Coastal rivers often generate buoyant plumes at their mouth following high inflow rate events. This coastal water, especially in flooding season, collects freshwater runoff with a large number of sediments, which significantly affects the environment of the continent shelf. In the present study, the dynamics of a plume on a Southern Hemisphere coast has been studied using a 3D hydrodynamic model. It is found that a seaward bulge forms and tends to move leftwards. Based on the results of modeling simulations, the plume under relative small coastal current is classified as subcritical. And plume size increases in proportion to river discharge.