Sticky Waters in the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is a mosaic of regions of high and low reef density. Current meter observations upstream from a region of high reef density revealed that the tidal and low-frequency currents were steered away from the region during spring tides but not during neap tides. A mathematical model suggests that this effect was due to both tidal friction and to the dissipation of energy by eddies behind reefs at spring tides. For a high reef density region, this results in a longer residence time at spring tides than at neap tides. Conversely, this effect also diminishes connectivity between regions of high and low reef density at spring tides. This process may affect the recruitment and dispersion of fish and other larvae in the Great Barrier Reef. It may also invalidate the use of satellite altimetry and tidal harmonic analysis for currents in the Great Barrier Reef.

[1]  J. Pedlosky.  Geophysical Fluid Dynamics , 1979 .

[2]  E. Wolanski.  Water circulation in the Gulf of Carpentaria , 1993 .

[3]  J. Nihoul,et al.  Modelling the general circulation of shelf seas by 3Dk-ε models , 1989 .

[4]  Effects of viscosity and bottom friction on recirculating flows , 1994 .

[5]  P. Ridd,et al.  Currents through Torres Strait , 1988 .

[6]  A. M. Davies,et al.  Modeling the Effect of Wave–Current Interaction on the Three-Dimensional Wind-Driven Circulation of the Eastern Irish Sea , 1995 .

[7]  Chuan Yi Tang,et al.  A 2.|E|-Bit Distributed Algorithm for the Directed Euler Trail Problem , 1993, Inf. Process. Lett..

[8]  J. Leis,et al.  What the Pelagic Stages of Coral Reef Fishes Are Doing out in Blue Water: Daytime Field Observations of Larval Behavioural Capabilities , 1996 .

[9]  Eric Wolanski,et al.  Physical Oceanographic Processes of the Great Barrier Reef , 1994 .

[10]  D. Ullman,et al.  Model parameter estimation from data assimilation modeling: Temporal and spatial variability of the bottom drag coefficient , 1998 .

[11]  G. W. Lennon,et al.  Eddy viscosity and tidal cycles in a shallow sea , 1983 .

[12]  J. Leis.  CHAPTER 8 – The Pelagic Stage of Reef Fishes: The Larval Biology of Coral Reef Fishes , 1991 .

[13]  S. Massel,et al.  Hydrodynamics of coastal zones , 1989 .

[14]  G. Pickard,et al.  A review of the physical oceanography of the Great Barrier Reef and Western Coral Sea , 1977 .

[15]  E. Wolanski,et al.  Tidal current variability in the Central Great Barrier Reef , 1996 .

[16]  R. Signell,et al.  Effect of wave-enhanced bottom friction on storm-driven circulation in Massachusetts Bay , 1997 .

[17]  E. Wolanski,et al.  Currents and Sediment Transport in Mangrove Forests , 1997 .

[18]  Peter F. Sale.  The Ecology of fishes on coral reefs , 1980 .

[19]  E. Wolanski,et al.  Directional Swimming of Fish Larvae Determines Connectivity of Fish Populations on the Great Barrier Reef , 1997, Naturwissenschaften.

[20]  R. Signell,et al.  Effect of wave‐current interaction on wind‐driven circulation in narrow, shallow embayments , 1990 .

[21]  E. Dinsdale,et al.  Patterns of recruitment and abundance of corals along the Great Barrier Reef , 1999, Nature.

[22]  B. Willis,et al.  Dispersal of coral larvae from a lagoonal reef—II. Comparisons between model predictions and observed concentrations , 1992 .

[23]  R. Holman,et al.  Nonlinear shear instabilities of alongshore currents over barred beaches , 1998 .