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The OKATEE and MALIND CREEKS FVCOM

OKATEE CREEK and MALIND CREEK

The Okatee Creek is located at the head of the Okatte River and the Malind Creek is the northern side of the Okatee River. The Okatee Creek is a continuous part of the river flow channel, while the Malind Creek is a water flow-by system. Both creeks Both creeks are characterized with tidal flushing and strong asummetry of tidal currents over tidal cycles. They allo connect to the intensive salt marsh areas.

Significant difference was report in DO distributions in these creeks. The modeling experiments were made in these two creeks to examine how physical water exchange processes over marsh-creek complex affects the distribution of DO. The model results have been written into two papers.

 

Click here or image to view the full-size figure.

THE OKATEE CREEK MODEL:

The model resolution varied from 5 m to 20 m. Total 7 sigma levels were selected in the vertical. The red boundary shown at the top of the grid on the right figure was the open boundary that was connected to the Okatee River. The red dot at the down end of the creek is the site where the freshwater was injected. The bathymetry used in the model was interpolated from the remote-sensing derived 1x1 m hypsometric data measured by Dr. Jack Blanton and his collaborators.

The model was driven by tidal forcing (M2, N2, S2, O1, and K1 as well as M4) at the open boundary.

 

Click here or image to view the full-size figure.

THE MALIND CREEK MODEL:

Similar to the Okatee Creek model, the Malind Creek model resolution also varied from 5 m to 20 m. Total 7 sigma levels were selected in the vertical. Unlike the Okatee Creek, the Malind Creek is located on the side of the Okatee River. The water transport onto this creek is mainly from the tidal flushing process flooded from the deep river channel. Two red lines shown in the lower boundary of the grid were the open boundaries with periodically water flow in and out. The red dot at the top end of the grid was the site where freshwater was injected.

The model was driven by tidal forcing (M2, N2, S2, O1, and K1 as well as M4) at the open boundary.

Click here or image to view the full-size figure.

 

Tidal Flushing over Okatee Creek

The water flowed into the creek from a relatively deeper channel and then flooded onto salt marsh zones on two sides. This animation is for the case with only M2 tidal forcing. The 2-m elevation line is streched in the vertical to provide a good view for the surface elevation.

Click here or image on the right to watch the lager size animation.

 

Tidal Flushing over Malind Creek

The water flowed periodically through the deep channel on the right lower region of the creek. The part of this water entered into the narrow branches and then flooded onto salt marsh zones. Note: the right side of the deep channel should be open rather than the land. It was filled with land when the movie was made because of no grid data. This animation is alsp for the case with only M2 tidal forcing. The 2-m elevation line is streched in the vertical to provide a good view for the surface elevation.

Click here or image on the right to watch the lager size animation.

 

Water Exchange over Creek-Salt March Complex in Okatee Creek

An animation showing the neutral particle movement over flood and ebb tidal periods in the Okatee Creek. In this experiment, only M2 tidal constituent was considered. Particles were released on 6 cross-creek transects and two selected upstream sites near the head of the creek. The trajectories of particles were plotted in the middle figure, which clearly showed the baythymetrically-following water movements in this region. Also, the water exchange betwen marsh zone and creek was more active in the region connected to the main channel of the river and reduced significantly in the upstream area closed to the head.

Click here or the right image to watch the animation. Click the middle image to view the full-size figure.


 

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