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Tidal flows around the Channel Islands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

R. D. Pingree
Affiliation:
N.E.R.C. Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Brook Road, Wormley, Godalming, Surrey GU8 5UB
G. T. Mardell
Affiliation:
N.E.R.C. Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Brook Road, Wormley, Godalming, Surrey GU8 5UB

Extract

The tidal streams in the Channel Islands region are rotary anticlockwise. At spring tides anticlockwise Eulerian residual currents of about 20 cm s–1 develop around Guernsey which indicate that frictional effects exceed those due to the Earth's rotation in the generation of Eulerian residual currents in this shallow-water situation. Lagrangian anticlockwise residual currents can exceed 60 cm s–1 at spring tides, indicating that Stokes-induced currents are larger than the Eulerian residual currents around Guernsey. Remote sensing studies show anticlockwise-directed jets which also indicate an anti-clockwise circulation around the island. A tidal circulation pattern for the Channel Islands area is presented based on anticlockwise gyres around all the major topographic features in the region. This pattern off low is consistent with the formation of the well-known front between Guernsey and Jersey and the residual currents derived from a numerical model.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1987

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