6070E0X 7/71 ol. I WATER POLLUTION CONTROL RESEARCH SERIES 16010 EOK 01/11 opy 1 OCEANOGAPHY OF THE NEARSHORE COASTAL WATERS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST RELATING TO POSSIBLE POLLUTION VOLUME I Northwt Water SO4JtS 3ithStat 0 o ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY WATER QUALITY OFFICE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL RESEARCH SEPIES The Water Pollution Control Research Series describes the results and progress in the control and abatement of pollution in our Nation's waters. They provide a central source of information on the research, develop- ment, and demonstration activities in the Water Quality Office, Environmental Protection Agency, through inhouse research and grants and contracts with Federal, State, and local agencies, research institutions, and industrial organizations. Inquiries pertaining to Water Pollution Control Research Reports should be directed to the Head, Project Reports System, Office of Research and Development, Water Quality Office, Environmental Protection Agency, Room 1108, Washington, D. C. 20242. OCEANOGRAPHY OF THE NEARSHORECOASTAL WATERS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST RELATING TO POSSIBLE POLLUTION ITo lume I Oregon State University Corvallis, Oregon 97331 or the WATER QUALITY OFFICE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Grant No. 16070 EOK July,, 1971 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Oovernment Printing Olfloe Washington, D.C. 5)502- Price $5.25 Stock Number 5501-0140 EPA Review Notice This report has been reviewed by the Water Quality Office, EPA, and approved for publication. Approval does not signify that the contents necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. 11 ABSTRACT This study is limited to the coastal zone of the Pacific Northwest from high tide to ten kilometers from shore, and does not include estuaries and bays.The literature has been reviewed in 21 chapters including chapters on geology, hydrology, winds, temperature and salinity, heat budget, waves, coastal currents, carbon dioxide and pH, oxygen, nutrients, and biology.Special chapters deal with field studies on thermal discharges, heat dispersion models, pulp and paper industrial wastes, trace metals, radiochemistry, pesticides and'cthlorine, thermal ecology, and biology of 20 selected species. A summary chapter is entitled 'The nearshore coastal ecosystem: an overview. "The bibliography contains more than 3100 entries, most from the open literature, but some from unpublished reports. A separate volume includes the following appendices:1.Wind Data;2.Temperature and Salinity Data;3.Wave Data;4.Trace Metals (including trace metal toxicities);5.Pesticide Toxicities; 6.Oxygen, Nutrient, and pH Data;7.Radionuclides; and 8.An Annotated Checklist of Plants and Animals (including more than 4400 species). This report was submitted in fulfillment of Grant No. 16070E0K under the sponsorship of the Water Quality Office, Environmental Protection Agency. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Chapter 1.INTRODUCTION 1 PART I.PHYSICAL AND GEOLOGICAL ASPECTS 5 Chapter 2.NAUTICAL CHARTS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST 7 Chapter 3.GEOLOGY 13 Geology and Geomorphology 13 Sediments 14 Sediment Motion 14 Seismology 16 Sources of Information 20 Nearshore Topography 20 Chapter 4. HYDROLOGY 25 Chapter 5.WINDS 29 General 29 Winds Measured from Shore Stations 31 Offshore Wind Observations 34 Corrected Geostrophic Winds 38 Chapter 6.TEMPERATURE AND SALINITY 47 Shore Station and Lightship Observations 47 Offshore Temperature and Salinity Observations 55 Sea Surface Temperature from Infrared Surveys 58 Conclusions 59 Chapter 7. HEAT BUDGET 64 Introduction 64 Empirical Methods 64 Discussion of Results 67 Direct Measurements 70 Summary 73 Chapter 8. WAVES 74 Intr oduction 74 Measured or Observed Waves 75 Hindcas ted Waves 79 Wave Steepness 84 Chapter 9.COASTAL CURRENTS 87 Intr oduction 87 Main Ocean Currents 87 Total Currents at Pacific Northwest Lightships 88 V TABLE OF CONTENTS continued Page Grays Harbor, Washington 89 Depoe Bay, Oregon 91 Newport, Oregon 95 Coos Bay, Oregon 97 Trinidad Head to Eel River, California 97 Bottom Currents 98 Current Flow under the Influence of Coastal Upwelling 99 Analytical Approach to Tidal Currents 103 Longshore Currents 109 Chapter 10.FIELD STUDIES OF THERMAL DISCHARGES 111 Chapter 11. REVIEW OF ANALYTICAL MODELS FOR THE PREDICTION OF TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION 119 Introduction 119 Environmental Effects 120 Analytical Models 122 Part I.Initial Dilution 123 Part II.Surface Dispersion and Interface Exchange 127 Part III.Dye Diffusion Studies 133 PART II.CHEMICAL AND RADIOCHEMICAL ASPECTS 135 Chapter 12.CARBON DIOXIDE AND pH 137 Conclusions 138 Chapter 13.OXYGEN AND NUTRIENTS 139 Generalized Features 139 Chapter 14. PULP AND PAPER INDUSTRY WASTES 143 Kraft Process 143 Sulfite Process 145 Groundwood Process 150 Fates of Pulp and Paper Mill Effluents 1 50 Summary 151 Chapter 15.TRACE METALS IN THE NEARSHORE MARINE ENVIRONMENT 152 Chemical Form 152 Natural Inputs 156 Industrial Inputs 167 Removal Processes 167 Advective Removal 168 Biological Removal 168 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS continued Page Geochemical Removal 169 Allowable Residual Level 175 Summary 183 MERCURY 184 Summary 186 COPPER 187 Summary 188 LEAD 189 Summary 189 ZINC 190 Summary 190 Chapter 16. RADIOCHEMISTRY 191 A.Naturally-occurring radionuclides 191 B.Fission product radionuclides from weapons teats 195 C.Neutron-induced radionuclides 200 Future Radioactivity Levels in Coastal Waters 209 Summary ziz Chapter 17.OTHER POLLUTANTS 213 PESTICIDES 213 Introduction 213 Pesticide Residues in the Pacific Northwest 213 Toxicities of Pesticides to Marine Organisms 214 Behavior of Chlorinated Hydrocarbon Pesticides in the Marine Environment 216 Summary 217 CHLORINE 218 Summary 219 PART III.BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS 221 Chapter 18. INTRODUCTION TO BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS 223 Taxonomic Studies 225 Bibliographies 226 Chapter 19. THERMAL ECOLOGY OF NOR THWEST SPECIES 228 Temperature 228 Other Factors .245 vii TABLE OF CONTENTS continued Page Chapter 20.BIOLOGY OF SELECTED NORTHWEST SPECIES OR SPECIES GROUPS 246 Phytoplankton 247 Clupea harengus pallasi (Pacific herring) 251 Cymatogaster aggregata (Shiner perch) 253 Cancer magister (Dungeness crab) 255 Engraulis mordax (Northern anchovy) 259 Eopsetta jordani (Petrale sole, brill) 262 Hippoglossus stenolepis (Pacific halibut) 263 Macrocystis spp. (Giant keips) 266 Merluccius productus (Pacific hake) 269 Microstomus pacificus (Dover sole) 272 Mytilus californianus (Sea mussel) 273 Oncorhynchus spp. (Pacific salmon, five species) 277 Ophiodon elongatus (Ling cod) 283 Parophrys vetulus (English sole) 285 Pandalus jordani (Pink shrimp) 288 Sardinops sagax (Pacific sardine) 291 Sebastodes alutus (Pacific ocean perch) 294 Siliqua patula (Razor clam) 296 Thallichthys pacificus (Columbia River smelt) 300 Trachurus symmetricus (Jack mackerel) 301 PART IV. INTEGRATED ECOLOGY 305 Chapter 21.THE NEARSHORE COASTAL ECOSYSTEM: AN OVERVIEW 307 BIBLIOGRAPHY 319 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 -1 Map of the Study Area 3 2-1 Pacific Northwest Coast.Cape Flattery, Washington. to Cape Perpetua, Ore. 9 2-2 Pacific Northwest Coast.Heceta Head, Ore, to Pt. Delgada, Calif. 10 3-1 Surface distribution of sediment types 11 3-2 Sediment overburden 11 3-3 Sedimentary facies of the Oregon continental shelf 15 3-4 Movement of bottom sand due to waves 17 3-5 Relationship between grain size and foreshore slope 18 3-6 Map of tectonic flux for the Western United States.Log flux indices represent combined intensity and frequency of quakes 19 3-7 Bottom profiles and beach slopes for various locations in Washington and northern Oregon.Water depth is indicated at 1/2, 1 1/2, and 3 miles offshore 21 3-8 Bottom profiles' and beach slopes for various locations in southern Oregon and northern California,Water depth is indicated at 1/2, 1 1/2, and 3 miles offshore 22 4-1 Mean monthly flow of the Columbia River extrapolated to the river mouth for 1953- 1967 26 4-2 Combined mean flow of the Chehalis, Satsop, and Wynoochee Rivers measured at the lowest gaging station on each river for the period 1960-1968 27 4-3 Average streamfiow of Pacific Northwest coastal rivers versus river basin drainage area 28 5-1 Wind roses 'for winter and summer conditions for western Oregon 33 5-2 Location of lightships off the Pacific Northwest coast 36 5-3 Average direction and velocity of monthly winds for 1961 -1963 39 ix LIST OF FIGURES continued Figure Page 5-4 Average direction and velocity of January winds 'for 1961 -1963 40 5-5 Average direction and velocity o'f February winds for 1961 -1963 40 5-6 Average direction and velocity of March winds for 1961 -1963 41 5-7 Average direction and velocity of April winds for 1961 -1963 41 5-8 Average direction and velocity of May winds for 1961 -1963 42 5-9 Average direction and velocity of June winds for 1961 -1963 42 5-10 Average direction and velocity of July winds for 1961 -1963 43 5-11 Average direction and velocity of August winds for 1961 -1963 43 5-12 Average direction and velocity o'f September winds 'for 1961 -1963 44 5-13 Average direction and velocity of October winds 'for 1961 -1963 44 5-14 Average direction and velocity o'f November winds for 1961 -1963 45 5-15 Average direction and velocity of December winds for 1961 -1963 45 6-1 Location of shore stations and lightships along the Pacific Northwest coast 46 6-2 Mean monthly surface temperatures recorded at three lightships along the Pacific Northwest coast 53 6-3 Mean monthly surface