Gravity currents and the release of salt from an inverse estuary

摘要: Spencer Gulf, South Australia, forms a remarkable natural system in which marine gravity currents are regularly observed. The most intense of these every autumn, when the gulf waters, high salinity after summer evaporation, cooled to point where they much denser than waters on shelf. They then slip out along sea floor be replaced by surface inflow less saline shelf water. Here we report first complete survey this outflow during period salt exchange was both and well-defined. current has been traced across continental it cascades over break until finds its own density level at depth 250 m. speed is estimated region 0.1 ms−1, that rate would have flow for three months remove accumulated summer. There evidence unsteady character, possibly released regular pulses.