14 September 2004

Water Movements

pp. 50-61 in Dodson

1. What is the difference between a wave and a current?

2. Which water movements are waves and which are currents?

3. Which water movements are most important in the mixing of heat, dissolved substances, etc.?

Wind blows across the surface of the lake

At the air-water boundary wind velocity decreases due to friction

This produces shear forces at lake surface, which produce:

1. Waves 2. Currents

Water can also be set in motion by:

Changing atmospheric pressure

Influx of water to a lake (i.e. river)

Waves and currents usually occur together, but there are differences

Waves:

Periodic motion of the water

= wavelength

Direction of the wind

h = wave height

Rise and fall of water particles with little net flow Unless it is a breaking wave, there little disturbance of the deeper water

The diameter of the circle is halved for each increment of /9 Example: If = 18m and h = 1m Top circle has a vertical oscillation of 1m Bottom circle (4m) has a vertical oscillation is 25 cm

If water depth is < , the wave touches bottom, which interrupts the circular motion Wave will break when water depth is 4/3 h

White-caps are the result of extreme turbulence at the air-water interface, not wave size

What factors influence wave height (h)?

1. h is proportional to lake depth This is most true in deep lakes. In shallow lakes, the bottom also influences wave height

2. h is proportional to the square root of the fetch h = 0.105* (fetch)

In general, the bigger the lake, the bigger the waves

In general, little energy is transferred from the wind in surface waves, because the water molecules just move up and down in a circle.

In a breaking wave, top water falls into the water below and energy is transferred to the water as eddies

Eddyan area of random, chaotic tumbling of water particles

Eddies result in Turbulent Mixing

Laminar flow is smooth and orderly, dominated by viscous forces (Re < 500)

Turbulent flow contains a swirling of water and chaotic eddies (Re > 2000)

Currents: Non periodic net unidirectional flow of water

Surface currents move water, which results in mixing

In a stratified lake, the wind sets up currents in the epilimnion and hypolimnion

When the wind blows for a long time, water piles up at the downwind end of the lake

May be some heat gain to the hypolimnion

Some mixing at boundary

Reaches a stable configuration in a steady wind

What happens when the wind stops blowing?

The current has set up a long wave

The water will flow back towards its original position, but because of momentum it overshoots the starting point

Internal seiche rocking of the thermocline. An internal wave

Can see the seiche with temperature profiles

Lake Ontario
Kalff 2002

Hypolimnetic water is often rich in limiting nutrients

How might these internal waves influence the biology of organisms?

In large lakes, the seiche can move due to the Coriolis Force

Kelvin Wave

Can have internal breaking waves.

Breaking waves result in mixing between the epilimnion and hypolimnion

A seiche can persist for several days

Surface Seiche a standing surface wave

In a stratified lake, a surface seiche can start an internal seiche

A 1 cm surface seiche can produce a 6 m internal seiche

Seiches have been known for centuries:

Well studied by Forel (1895)

Aztecs on Lake Texcoco recorded these prior to 1519 Lake Wakitipu, New Zealand. Gave rise to a Maori legend that a sleeping giant lay breathing on the lake bottom

The period of oscillation of a surface seiche: 2L

t=

(g z)

Where: t = period (seconds) L = length of the basin (m) g = acceleration due to gravity (9.81 m sec-2) z = mean depth (m)

For an internal seiche, need to consider density differences between water masses t= 2L

g (Dh De)
De Dh + zh ze

ze= thickness of epilimnion zh = thickness of hypolimnion De = mean density of water in epilimnion Dh = density of water in hypolimnion

Distance traversed Velocity of the internal wave

Langmuir Circulationparallel helical currents

Kalff 2002

The local areas of upwelling and downwelling leads to a sorting of particles

Kalff 2002

Can see streaks or windrows on the surface of the lake

http://homepages.cae.wisc.edu/~chinwu/CEE514_Coastal_Engineering/2001_Students_Web/Dave_Calkins/streaks.gif

Currents in large lakes:

The water moves 45 to the wind due to the Coriolis Force.

Right in N. hemisphere, left in S. hemisphere The displacement gets accentuated down the water column

Ekman Spiral

In an Ekman Spiral there is return flow at the thermocline

Think of it as different water masses moving in slightly different directions

Get turbulence and mixing due to shear force at the boundary of water masses

Currents and breaking waves cause mixing

Mixing moves heat, gases, nutrients etc. throughout the water column

Mixing influences thermal stratification

G. Kling (Limnology & Oceanography 1988) E. J. Fee et al. (Limnology & Oceanography 1996)

Found that thermocline depth is proportional to fetch Bigger lakes have deeper thermoclines
80

zt
(m)

60 40 20

200

400 Fetch (km)

600

Thermocline depth will be also be related to water clarity and solar radiation

Terms to know
wave current fetch eddy laminar flow turbulent flow Re internal seiche surface seiche Langmuir circulation Ekman spiral