Resumen de El Estuario del Ebro: efectos de las oscilaciones del nivel marino sobre la circulación y la dinámica del sedimento
Jorge Guillén Aranda, Alberto Palanques
A salt wedge estuary develops in the lower Ebro River when freshwater discharge is lower than 400 m3/s. Dynamics of the salt wedge was characterized in this study using data measured with a bottom boundary layer tripod located 4 km upstream of the Ebro mouth during one month.
The flow in the salt-water displays up-downstream oscillations of semidiurnal frequency related to the mixed tide that affects this coast (tidal range < 20 cm). In addition, high frequency (period about 10 min) oscillations related with the passage of small (< 5 cm) waves were detected in the flow of the marine water at the site of the deployment. Both tidal and high frequency perturbations caused changes in the concentration of suspended sediment and play an important role in the sediment transport of the estuary. The net sediment flux was directed upstream during the survey, although the magnitude of the net flux shows a strong vertical gradient across the salt wedge.
