MODELING THE SEASONAL VARIABILITY OF DENSITY CURRENT INABU-QIR BAY

MODELING THE SEASONAL VARIABILITY OF DENSITY

CURRENT INABU-QIR BAY

By
ALAM EL-DIN K. A.* AND E. E. AL-HOGARATY
*Department af Oceanagraphy, Faculty afScience, University afAlexandria, EGYPT.
Key words: Abu-Qir Bay – Numerical modeling – hydrodynamical model
water circulation – density current – thermohaline circulation.
ABSTRACT
Qir
15m.
Abu-Qir
Due
headland
and
to
an
the
Bay
area
and
land
is
of
Rosetta
a
about
runoff
shallow
headland.
500
offresh
semicircular
km2
It
,vater
has a
basin
from
maximum
lying
Rosetta
depth
between
mouth
ofabout
Abuand
brackish warer fro .1 L ke Edku. the waler salinity in Abu Qir Bay
varies with a ‘wide range. This wide range o/salinity variation causes
a significant variation in water density. Therefore density currents
take a considerable contribution ofwater circulation in the Bay.
Three dimensional hydro-dynamical model was used to simulate
the thermohaline circulation in Abu-Qir Bay during the different
seasons with a horizontal resolurion ofabout 0.5 minute.
The simulation results sh01I’ed that the density (thermohaline)
circulation in the Bay is very complicated. A lot of rotating motions
(eddies) can be detected during different seasons. The main features
of the sUI/ace circulation during winter are the extensive
anticlockwise eddy in front ofRosetta mouth due to the huge amount
offresh water discharged during this season.
During spring the general trend of surface circulation is
dominated by the clockwise direction. The brackish water discharged
from Lake Edlat directed northwestward to the open sea in the western