EC MAST project PROFILE

(Contract MAS2-CT930054)

Processes in Regions of Fresh Water Influence (ROFIs)

ROFIs are of interest as a distinctive hydrodynamic regime, between the coast/estuary and the wider shelf-sea where freshwater influence is dispersed (see figure denoting a vertical section offshore).

• Fresh water from rivers provides a strong buoyancy source; it tends to flow out over more saline shelf water and cause stratification, opposed by wind-, tide- and wave-induced mixing.
• In ROFIs occur the first and often most severe impacts of riverine inputs: sediments, contaminants, land-derived nutrients. The flow and mixing favour active sediment resuspension, transport and deposition which are known to play a crucial role in biogeochemical cycling and associated pollutant dispersal.
• The changing stirring, stratification, nutrification and resulting abundance of organic material can lead to nuisance blooms. Intermittent stratification in many ROFIs may affect micro- organisms, alternately favouring production and consumption.

Overall aim: to develop process understanding and tested numerical models for Regions of Freshwater Influence (ROFI).

EC MAST project PROFILE (contract MAS2-CT930054) studies the role of physical processes controlling water-property distributions, suspended sediments controlling the availability of light, nutrients and phytoplankton growth. The project comprises development of a 3-D nearshore model, measurements in contrasted ROFIs and comparisons between them.

• Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (UK; coordinator)
• Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
• Istituto per lo Studio della Dinamica delle Grandi Masse (CNR; Venice, Italy)
• Institut für Meereskunde (University of Hamburg, Germany)
• Management Unit of Mathematical Models of the North Sea... (Belgium)
• Rijkswaterstaat (Netherlands)
• School of Ocean Sciences, University of Wales (UK) (sub-contracting Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory)
• Utrecht University (Netherlands)
• Alfred-Wegener Institut (Germany)

Click here for more detail on PROFILE

For further information please contact:

John Huthnance (jmh@pol.ac.uk) or
Graham Alcock (gaa@pol.ac.uk).

Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory,
Bidston Observatory,
Birkenhead,
Merseyside L43 7RA,
UK
Tel: +44 151 653 8633
Fax: +44 151 653 6269

or

PROFILE Project Coordinator, Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory
jmh@pol.ac.uk