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APPENDIX a Physical Characterization APPENDIX A Physical Characterization Appendix A: Physical Characterization December 2007 A. PHYSICAL CHARACTERIZATION A.1 Physical Oceanography of Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays A.1.a General Summary of Processes Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays are subject to the combined influence of atmospheric forcing (wind stress, heat flux, and precipitation), river inflows (both direct and remote), and boundary forcing of tidal flows, storm surges, and currents of the Gulf of Maine—in particular the Western Maine Coastal Current (WMCC) (Brooks 1985; Brown and Irish 1992; Geyer et al. 2004). Temperature variations are mainly due to surface heating and cooling, following the seasonal cycle of the air temperature. Salinity is mainly influenced by the river inflows, particularly the Merrimack and the Charles Rivers. The water properties in Massachusetts Bay are also influenced by the conditions in the Gulf of Maine—in fact it is instructive to think of Massachusetts Bay as a small “arm” of the Gulf of Maine rather than a distinct water body. This is illustrated in particular by the dissolved oxygen variations in Massachusetts Bay, which very closely track the variations in dissolved oxygen of the adjacent waters of the Gulf of Maine (Geyer et al. 2002). Currents within Massachusetts Bay are generally on the order of 10 cm/s (or 8 km/day) (Butman, 1978), with stronger currents near the mouth, particularly in the vicinity of Race Point to the south and Cape Ann to the north. There is a general counter-clockwise circulation in Massachusetts Bay (Geyer et al. 1992), although the mean flow becomes weak in western Massachusetts Bay, and most of the flow there is due to tidal and fluctuating, wind-forced motions. The predominant wind-forced motions are upwelling and downwelling currents. Upwelling is caused by southerly winds, most typically during summer months. The surface currents are directed offshore due to the Coriolis effect acting on the wind-induced motions (Ekman transport; Csanady 1982). This causes the warm surface waters to be advected offshore and replaced by cooler waters that have upwelled from below the thermocline. Downwelling is the other important type of wind-forced motions. It is most strongly driven by northeasterly winds, as it sets up an along-coast flow between Cape Ann and Boston. During the spring, northeasterly winds may advect low-salinity water from the GMCC (Butman 1972), enhancing the circulation in Massachusetts Bay and potentially advecting harmful algal blooms into the bay (Anderson et al. 2005a). Downwelling is also associated with strong vertical mixing. Both upwelling and downwelling may contribute to increased productivity by bringing nutrients into the surface layer, either by advection (in the case of upwelling) or mixing (in the case of downwelling). A.1.b Physical Dynamics and the Outfall The fate of effluent from the outfall depends on the stratification conditions and the regional current pattern. Stratification persists from May through October—this causes the trapping of the outfall plume below the pycnocline. During the unstratified winter months, the outfall plume mixes through the whole water column, with roughly twice the initial dilution as during the stratified months. The transport and dispersion of the effluent away from the outfall occurs due to a complex combination of tidal, wind-driven and density-driven motions. The dispersion is relatively rapid, rendering the effluent signal indistinguishable from ambient water within 10-15 km from the outfall site. No particular conditions have been identified that would significantly increase the residence time of the effluent. Thus, the main importance of the physical forcing is to affect the physical and biological environment of the receiving waters. Appendix A: Physical Characterization December 2007 A.2 Forcing Conditions A.2.a Freshwater run-off River discharge influences salinity, stratification, and strength of the coastal circulation. The Charles River is the largest river feeding directly into Massachusetts Bay, and its discharge is correlated with surface salinity at the outfall site. The Merrimack River enters the Gulf of Maine just north of Massachusetts Bay, but it is a much larger source of fresh water than the Charles River. Its variation is correlated with both surface and bottom salinity in the nearfield. The year 2006 was another wet year, like 2005. In fact, there was near-record discharge on the Merrimack River around May 15 and it was the largest spring discharge on the Merrimack for the entire measurement period (Figures A-1 and A-2; Table A-1). The Charles River was wetter than normal, but not to the extreme extent of the Merrimack River. Although the flood of May 15 was devastating to the riparian towns in the lower Merrimack Valley, it only had a minor influence on currents in Massachusetts Bay, unlike the major event in 2005. This is apparently related to the timing of the winds relative to the freshwater inflow, as discussed in Section A.6. Wet conditions continued through the rest of the year, although not in as dramatic fashion as the spring. A.2.b Wind Forcing The most important aspect of the wind forcing is the average north-south component of wind stress, which determines the preponderance of upwelling or downwelling conditions in western Massachusetts Bay. Upwelling provides flushing of bottom waters and causes colder water temperatures, which usually leads to higher near-bottom dissolved oxygen. The upwelling index is shown in Table A-2 and Figure A-3. The most notable features of the 2006 wind forcing were strong downwelling conditions in the winter and spring and strong upwelling in July. On a seasonal basis, winds speeds were close to the long term averages in 2006 (Table A-3). May is normally transitional between winter downwelling and summer upwelling favorable conditions, and so the net north-south wind stress is typically close to zero. In 2006, there was strong downwelling during the month of May, although not as strong as 2005. The spring downwelling was associated with several late-season northeasterlies. As in 2005, they influenced the inflow from the Gulf of Maine importing fresh water and potentially harmful algal blooms from the Gulf of Maine (Anderson et al. 2005a). Northeasterlies also cause the largest waves and potentially the most significant wave-induced bottom resuspension. In contrast to the strong downwelling conditions in May, the July conditions were favorable for upwelling and may have provided an additional nutrient supply to the euphotic zone in July to support the summer diatom bloom that was observed during survey WN069 (see Appendices B and C). An analysis of the influence of prevailing downwelling and upwelling conditions on the currents and physical structure of the water column are discussed in Section A.6. A.2.c Air Temperature Air temperature has a significant effect on water properties during the winter, when it sets the minimum water temperature. Table A-4 shows the wintertime air temperature for the period of the monitoring program. The winter of 2005-2006 was warmer than average, although not extreme (Figure A-4). May and June were colder than average, due to the northeasterly storms. Appendix A: Physical Characterization December 2007 Table A-1. Seasonal river discharge (m3/s) summary for the Charles and Merrimack Rivers. (measured at Waltham and Lowell, respectively, by USGS) Year Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Charles River Discharge 1990 13 13 7 13 1991 13 7 3 10 1992 10 8 2 9 1993 15 15 1 5 1994 15 11 3 7 1995 11 5 1 7 1996 16 12 4 16 1997 12 13 1 4 1998 21 21 8 7 1999 18 7 4 9 2000 13 16 4 7 2001 14 14 4 2 2002 6 10 1 9 2003 13 17 5 10 2004 9 16 4 10 2005 15 14 3 19 2006 17 18 4 10 mean 14 13 3 9 Merrimack River Discharge 1990 333 366 164 331 1991 289 237 117 295 1992 254 266 100 174 1993 200 393 51 198 1994 253 380 74 164 1995 295 154 45 292 1996 409 487 127 401 1997 296 404 70 123 1998 401 454 122 116 1999 328 175 103 180 2000 292 410 104 160 2001 196 392 55 58 2002 121 307 42 146 2003 235 384 82 366 2004 182 382 128 128 2005 272 517 108 564 2006 395 525 135 342 mean 279 367 96 238 Appendix A: Physical Characterization December 2007 Table A-2. Southerly (upwelling) wind stress. Estimated seasonally averaged stress in Pa x103 at the Boston Buoy Year Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec 1990 -0.0 1.4 0.8 0.1 1991 -1.6 -0.2 1.0 -4.2 1992 -3.8 -0.4 1.0 -3.4 1993 -4.5 -0.0 1.3 -1.3 1994 -3.5 1.0 0.4 -1.7 1995 -0.1 0.0 -0.0 -0.9 1996 -2.8 0.5 -0.2 -1.3 1997 -0.1 -0.8 0.5 -2.2 1998 -4.3 -0.8 0.9 -0.5 1999 -2.1 -0.2 0.7 -0.9 2000 -3.3 0.0 -0.1 -2.6 2001 -4.6 -0.3 0.6 -0.1 2002 0.5 0.2 -0.3 -2.7 2003 -2.2 -1.7 1.2 -1.4 2004 -4.4 -0.6 -0.1 -2.9 2005 -5.1 -1.8 0.5 -2.6 2006 -3.8 -1.2 0.6 -1.2 mean -2.7 -0.2 0.5 -1.8 Table A-3. Seasonally averaged wind speed (m s-1) at the Boston Buoy Year Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec 1990 7.0 5.8 4.4 7.9 1991 7.6 5.8 5.3 7.5 1992 7.9 5.8 5.1 7.0 1993 7.7 5.8 4.9 6.9 1994 7.4 5.9 5.6 6.8 1995 6.6 4.6 4.6 7.2 1996 7.3 5.1 4.5 6.6 1997 7.6 5.3 5.1 6.6 1998 6.9 4.6 3.9 6.8 1999 7.3 4.5 4.3 6.8 2000 7.3 5.4 4.6 7.2 2001 7.1 4.5 4.2 6.4 2002 6.9 5.4 4.6 7.8 2003 7.5 4.8 4.0 7.1 2004 7.4 4.8 4.2 7.0 2005 7.0 4.9 4.2 7.2 2006 7.5 5.3 4.4 6.7 mean 7.3 5.2 4.6 7.0 Appendix A: Physical Characterization December 2007 Table A-4.
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