JULY 2003 W I N A N T A N D G U T I É R R E Z D E V E L A S C O 1365

Tidal Dynamics and Residual Circulation in a Well-Mixed Inverse Estuary

CLINTON D. WINANT
Integrative Oceanography Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California

GUILLERMO GUTIÉRREZ DE VELASCO

CICESE, La Paz, Mexico

(Manuscript received 30 May 2002, in final form 13 January 2003)

ABSTRACT
The tidal and residual circulations in Laguna San Ignacio (LSI), a well-mixed evaporative lagoon located on
the Pacific coast of the Baja California peninsula in Mexico, is described based on surveys and moored obser-
vations. At tidal periods pressure and axial current fluctuations are about one-quarter of a period out of phase,
and so the tidal wave is close to standing. Pressure fluctuations increase and axial currents decrease with distance
from the ocean. The fluctuating axial momentum balance is nonlinear and involves local acceleration, advection,
barotropic pressure gradients, and friction. The structure of the residual circulation depends on the internal
Froude number Fr i , a measure of the relative strength of tidal and buoyancy forcing. Most of the time, Fr i is
large and the residual flow is laterally variable, driven by the tidally averaged nonlinear advective terms. The
sense of this residual circulation is shown to depend on the lateral structure of the tidal stress and is away from
the ocean in the deep channels when the tidal wave is standing, as in LSI, and in the opposite direction for a
progressive wave. During neap tides, when Fr i is small, the residual circulation is vertically stratified, with a
dense near-bottom flow toward the ocean and relatively fresh inflow at the surface.

1. Introduction
Laguna San Ignacio (LSI) is one of several large
coastal lagoons on the Pacific coast of Baja California,
Mexico (Fig. 1). LSI is of the bar-built type (Dyer 1997),
as are the other neighboring lagoons, Laguna Ojo de
Liebre being the largest. They are at the seaward edge
of an alluvial plain located over a sedimentary basin
presumed to be Cretaceous and Tertiary and capped by
Pleistocene alluvium (Phleger and Ewing 1962). Sedi-
ments supplied from the land are modified by marine
processes to form sandy barriers (Phleger 1965). Once
the barrier is formed, the lagoon acts as an effective
trap for sediment. These lagoons are the mating and
calving grounds for the California gray whale, and as
such are important and widely known habitats.
The area has an arid climate, with persistent north-
westerly winds from March through November. As a
result there is a considerable excess of evaporation over
precipitation. The lack of significant freshwater sources
causes the salinity and density in the lagoon to be higher
than in the open ocean, the reverse of the situation in
an estuary where freshwater and seawater mix to pro-
Corresponding author address: Dr. Clinton D. Winant, Integrative
Oceanography Division, 0209, Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093-0209.
E-mail: cdw@coast.ucsd.edu
duce salinities and densities that are lower than those
of the ocean. The salt surplus is so important that the
largest sea salt production facility in the world is located
in Laguna Ojo de Liebre. For this reason, the Baja Cal-
ifornia lagoons are described as hypersaline lagoons, or
as inverse estuaries. The Mediterranean, the Red Sea,
the Arabian Gulf, the Gulf of California, and the Adri-
atic Sea are large-scale examples of hypersaline bodies
of water. On a smaller scale, Nunes-Vaz et al. (1990)
describe the circulation in Spencer Gulf, South Austra-
lia. On an even smaller scale, closer to the scale of LSI,
Postma (1965) describes the water circulation in Laguna
Ojo de Liebre, and Largier et al. (1997) quantify the
residence time in hypersaline estuaries based on salinity
observations. Chadwick and Largier (1999) describe tid-
al exchanges in San Diego Bay, and Valle-Levinson et
al. (2001) show how the residual circulation in the Bay
of Guaymas reverses during the year, driven by wind
stress in the winter and by buoyancy in the spring and
summer.
Since salinity reaches a seasonally varying steady
state while evaporation persists, there must exist a flux
of salt toward the ocean, comparable to the flux of salt
into the lagoon due to evaporation. Residual (periods
longer than one day) circulation patterns acting on sa-
linity gradients are responsible for the return flux. Two
distinct patterns of residual circulation are observed in

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1366 JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
FIG. 1. Location map. Moored stations are located by solid circles
and identified by numerals. Heavy lines mark the position of tidal
transects, identified by letters.
LSI. In the north, where the wind is strongest and im-
poses a stress on the surface of about 0.1 Pa, the residual
circulation is highly correlated with the wind stress. In
the south, where the current fluctuations induced by the
tide are of order 1 m s 21 and the fluctuating bottom
stress can exceed 1 Pa, the residual circulation is highly
correlated with the spring–neap cycle in the tides. The
dynamics of the tidal circulation and associated residual
currents in the southern half of the lagoon, and their
contribution to the return flux of salt is the central issue
discussed here.
The response of estuaries or lagoons to tidal forcing
is primarily governed by continuity and the axial mo-
mentum balance since lateral velocities are often smaller
than axial velocities. Many published analyses of ob-
servations of the axial momentum balance (Grace 1936,
1937; Bowden and Fairbairn 1952; Friedrichs and Ham-
rick 1996; Geyer et al. 2000) suggest that acceleration,
pressure gradients, and bottom friction are the dominant
terms. The relative phase between fluctuations in sea
level and axial velocity depends on the length of the
estuary, and the importance of friction. In a long estuary,
or one where shallow depth results in relatively large
friction, the tidal wave progresses from the ocean into
the estuary and decays with distance. In this case, sea
level (h) and axial velocity (u) fluctuations are in phase.
VOLUME 33
The James River (Friedrichs and Hamrick 1996) and
the Hudson River (Geyer et al. 2000) are good examples
of a progressive tidal wave system. In short closed es-
tuaries, or lagoons such as LSI, the tidal wave reflects
from the closed end before friction has significantly re-
duced the amplitude. The tidal wave is standing, and h
and u are out of phase. This kind of system is observed
in tidal lagoons such as Laguna Ojo de Liebre (Postma
1965) and LSI, as we show here. Nonlinear accelerations
are often ignored in analyses of the momentum balance
at tidal periods, although there is evidence (Postma
1965; Speer et al. 1991) that nonlinear terms can affect
the balance and distort the tidal fluctuations. Here we
show that in LSI nonlinear advective terms have to be
included to close the momentum balance at tidal periods,
and a method is proposed to estimate the local amplitude
of the axial velocity gradient.
The residual circulation in estuaries has often been
modeled as a vertically stratified process (Pritchard
1954, 1956; Hansen and Rattray 1965; Godfrey 1980;
Geyer et al. 2000) where freshwater flows toward the
ocean near the surface and relatively dense water flows
into the estuary from the ocean. Observations in two
large estuaries (Wong 1994; Friedrichs and Hamrick
1996) describe the flow as strongly dependent on lateral
position as well, supporting the models of Fischer (1972,
1976) and Hamrick (1979) that feature lateral variabil-
ity. The structure of the residual flow in LSI is organized
either vertically or laterally depending on the internal
Froude number (Fr i ). When Fr i is small (corresponding
to neap tides), the residual flow is vertically stratified,
and it is laterally variable otherwise.
Published reports give a conflicting view of the sense
of the laterally variable residual circulation: Friedrichs
and Hamrick (1996) analyze current measurements doc-
umenting the vertical and lateral structure of the flow
in the James River for several weeks and consider two
distinct mechanisms by which the tides contribute to
residual flow. One mechanism, due to the correlation
between h and u, is seaward in the James, and strongest
in the channel. The second mechanism, called tidal rec-
tification, results from all the nonlinear terms in the
momentum equation, accounts for a residual velocity
that is also seaward over the channel and in the opposite
direction over the shoals. Valle-Levinson and O’Donnell
(1996) propose that the residual circulation driven by
the tides is away from the ocean over the channel and
toward the ocean over the shoals. Li and O’Donnell
(1997) conclude the opposite, based on an analytical
model, with a net landward flow over the shoals bal-
anced by a return flow in the channel. Li (1996) shows
that the residual circulation in a sufficiently long closed
estuary can reverse sense. In that calculation, near the
mouth the residual velocity is into the estuary over the
shoals and toward the ocean in the channel, as in the
Li and O’Donnell (1997) model, but in the opposite
direction near the closed end. For LSI we show that the
residual circulation is the same as proposed by Valle-
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JULY 2003 W I N A N T A N D G U T I É R R E Z D E V E L A S C O
Levinson and O’Donnell (1996) and suggest that the
sense of the tidal circulation depends on the relative
phase of currents and surface elevation near the entrance
of the estuary or lagoon. This phase difference depends
on the length of the estuary and on the relative impor-
tance of friction.
2. The observations
a. Laguna San Ignacio
LSI extends about 30 km inland (Fig. 1). The width
varies between 2 and 6 km. Because of extensive shal-
low areas in the north, the average depth is only about
3 m. The maximum depth, in the entrance channel, is
24 m. The sectional geometry varies considerably de-
pending on location. South of Punta Piedras a main deep
channel covers about half the total width, and a shallow
secondary channel runs along the western edge. North
of Punta Piedras, the lagoon axis bends by nearly 50
degrees, then curves back toward the north. In this area,
three channels are separated by shallow flats, and the
cross-sectional area changes rapidly as a function of
axial position. The three channels merge into a single
one just south of the islands. That channel extends all
the way up to the closed end, known as El Remate, with
a depth of about 5 m. Tides in the neighboring Pacific
are mixed, with an amplitude of order 1 m. With a total
surface area of 150 km 2 and a sectional area of about
25 000 m 2 near the entrance, maximum tidal currents
are of order 1 m s 21 .
The observational program extended from December
1997 through December 1998 and consisted of two main
components: surveys to determine the distribution of
water mass properties and moored observations. Five
two-week-long field trips were conducted during the
period, when the moored array was serviced and water
mass properties were surveyed on both seasonal and
tidal periods.
b. Atmospheric forcing
The weather in the area surrounding LSI varies be-
tween the two patterns that characterize the eastern Pa-
cific boundary at midlatitudes. During late fall and win-
ter it is modulated by upper level synoptic activity, con-
sisting mostly of eastward propagating cyclones and an-
ticyclones. In spring and summer, the stationary North
Pacific anticyclone and the thermal low pressure area
over the Sonora Desert combine to produce an extended
period of energetic winds directed toward the southeast.
Wind observations are available from La Laguna, on
the eastern shore and another site, San Angel, located
10 km north of El Remate. Winds are largest in the
northern portion of the lagoon, where they are directed
along the axis, toward the south with maximum ampli-
tudes of 10 m s 21 . The surface stress t s is estimated
from wind speed and direction following the method
1367
FIG. 2. Monthly evaporation in LSI averaged from observations
near the north and south ends. Salinity near the closed end of the
lagoon as measured during seasonal surveys (open circles). Each pair
of points represents values during a spring and a neap period.
proposed by Large and Pond (1981). Maximum values
of surface stress are about 0.1 Pa.
Evaporation is monitored at two sites: San Angel and
near the southern entrance. The average of monthly
evaporation rates measured at these two sites is illus-
trated in Fig. 2. On average, the evaporation is equiv-
alent to a net flux of water into the lagoon Q of 10
m 3 s 21 . Evaporation has a clear seasonal cycle, with
minimum values (in excess of 0.1 m month 21 ) in mid-
winter and maximum values (in excess of 0.35 m
month 21 ) in July when the air is very dry and the wind
speeds are highest.
c. Surveys
Seasonal hydrographic surveys were conducted dur-
ing each field trip, both during spring and neap tides.
A Seabird SBE-19 conductivity, temperature, and depth
(CTD) sensor was cast from the small boat at about 50
stations on a regular grid extending over the entire la-
goon. These surveys took about ten hours and were not
synoptic relative to the tides. Highest salinities are ob-
served near the closed end and vary seasonally (Fig. 2).
Minimum values, near 38 psu, occur in late winter and
maximum values, in excess of 40 psu are observed in
late August and September. For reference the salinity
in the adjacent ocean is 34 psu and varies little through-
out the year (Lynn et al. 1982). Near the closed end,
the water density exceeds that of the ocean by about 3
kg m 23 , with little seasonal change as the effect of sea-
sonally varying salinity is almost exactly compensated
by seasonal changes in temperature.
Density sections along the deepest axis (Fig. 3) show
that the vertical stratification is smaller than the hori-
zontal density difference, a consequence of the mixing
induced by large tidal currents. During neap tides ver-
tical density differences are only a fraction of the hor-
izontal density difference, and during spring tides con-
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1368 JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
FIG. 3. Density sections along the deepest axial channel of the
lagoon during neap and spring tides for the Nov 1997 survey.
stant density lines are practically vertical. This is the
standard definition of a well-mixed estuary (Dyer 1997).
Tidal transects were designed to describe the tidal
cycle of water mass properties and currents across the
axis of the lagoon. A small craft was equipped with a
1.2-MHz acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) be-
tween fixed deployments. The ADCP was operated in
a downward looking, bottom track mode. The boat ran
along transects perpendicular to the axis of the lagoon,
continuously in one direction and stopping to make be-
tween 6 and 10 CTD casts on the return. Each transect
took about one hour. Transects were run for a semidi-
urnal period.
d. Moorings
Moorings were installed at four stations (Fig. 1). Sta-
tion 1 is located near the closed end, in the central
channel at a depth of 5 m. Station 2 is located just south
of the islands at a depth of 6 m. Station 3 is located in
the topographically complex area north of Punta Pie-
dras, near the bottom of the easternmost channel at a
depth of 11.5 m. Station 4 is located in the broad channel
south of Punta Piedras in water depth of 16 m. The
basic moorings consisted of low profile frames that were
pinned to the bottom by long sections of pipe jetted in
by divers. Pressure, temperature, and salinity sensors
and two ADCPs were installed at each station for dif-
ferent deployment periods.
Bottom pressure and temperature were monitored
continuously at stations 1, 2, and 3 between December
1997 and December 1998. The pressure was measured
with a Paroscientific 45 psia absolute pressure gauge,
and the temperature was measured with a YSI Model
44008 thermistor. These instruments were sampled on
a 4-min interval. An attempt was made to monitor sa-
linity continuously, but the very high organic content
VOLUME 33
TABLE 1. Semidiurnal M 2 amplitudes and lags for pressure and
vertically averaged axial currents. Positive axial currents are toward
the closed end of the lagoon. Lags are relative to high water in the
adjacent Pacific Ocean. One-quarter M 2 period is 3.11 h.
Pressure Axial currents
Depth Amplitude Lag Amplitude Lag
Station (m) (m) (8) (m s21 ) (8)
1 5 0.60 32 0.12 244
2 6 0.58 25 0.16 254
3 11.5 0.53 21 0.37 267
4 16 — — 0.56 280
Ocean 0.40 0
of the rich lagoon waters limited the useful deployment
of the salt sensors to little more than a week in each
season. Extensive (but not contemporaneous) measure-
ments of sea level are available for the ocean just outside
the lagoon, and a time series of bottom pressure was
synthesized for the observational period from estab-
lished harmonic constants and used to estimate tidal
fluctuations in the pressure gradient in the lower portion
of LSI.
An upward looking, 300-kHz broadband ADCP was
maintained at station 4 from June through December
1998. This instrument measured velocity at 1-m inter-
vals starting 2.5 m above the bottom. Observations were
returned for 11 bins up to a depth of 3.5 m beneath the
surface. Higher bins were contaminated by acoustic re-
turns from the free surface. An upward looking 1.2-
MHz ADCP was rotated for 3-month increments be-
tween stations 1, 2, and 3 with two deployments at
station 3. That instrument measured currents at 0.5-m
intervals, beginning 0.8 m above the bottom and ex-
tending to within 2.5 m beneath the mean surface. Both
current profilers returned observations every 10 min-
utes. Currents in LSI are highly polarized. They are
described here in terms of axial and lateral components
as defined by the principal axes of the vertically aver-
aged currents.
The amplitude and phase of the lunar semidiurnal
(M 2 ) component of pressure and axial currents at the
different stations, given in Table 1, provides an over-
view of the observations. The ratio of the S 2 to the M 2
amplitudes is 0.5 so that during spring tides the semi-
diurnal amplitudes are 1.5 times the M 2 amplitudes and
at neap tides amplitudes are half the M 2 amplitudes. The
pressure fluctuations increase with distance from the
ocean. At the closed end, they are 1.5 times larger than
outside the lagoon. Fluctuations at station 1 lag fluc-
tuations in the adjacent ocean by just over 1 h. Current
amplitudes decrease with distance from the ocean and
lead the local pressure by about one-quarter period. If
the tidal wave were standing in LSI, axial currents
would be expected to lead pressure by one-quarter pe-
riod, and the analysis summarized in Table 1 shows that
the tidal wave acts as a standing wave even though
friction retards the pressure signal. This is an important
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TABLE 2. Semidiurnal M 2 amplitudes and lags for axial and lateral
currents at station 3. Positive lateral currents are toward the west.
Lags are relative to high water in the adjacent Pacific Ocean. One-
quarter M 2 period is 3.11 h.
Axial currents Lateral currents
Depth Amplitude Lag Amplitude
(m) (m s21) (8) (m s21 )
2.7 0.42 269 0.01
4.7 0.42 267 0 —
6.7 0.41 264 0.01
8.7 0.39 264 0.02
10.7 0.33 264 0.02
result because it implies that the correlation between
elevation and axial current in the lagoon, one of the
mechanisms responsible for driving a residual current
(Li and O’Donnell 1997), is small and it also implies
that the axial velocity and the axial gradient of the axial
velocity are in phase.
The vertical structure of the M 2 amplitude and phase
of axial and lateral currents at station 3 is summarized
in Table 2. The vertical structure at other stations is
similar. The amplitude and phase of the axial current
varies little with depth except very near the bottom,
consistent with high vertical mixing rates. The ampli-
tude of the lateral currents is less than ten times smaller
than that of the axial currents. The lateral currents
change phase by 1808 at midwater. Surface lateral cur-
rents are nearly in phase with pressure.
e. Estimating pressure gradients
On the evidence of density surveys (Fig. 3), we con-
clude that axial density gradients change little in space
and time. The hydrostatic equation can then be differ-
entiated to give
p x 5 rgh x 2 gr x z,
where h is the elevation of the free surface relative to
a geopotential surface and z is measured up from the
free surface. The first term on the right includes a fluc-
tuating and a time average part. The fluctuating com-
ponent is estimated from the difference in fluctuations
of bottom pressure measurements between adjacent sen-
sors divided by the distance between stations. The pres-
sure sensors respond to both changes in surface ele-
vation and to baroclinic changes. However, the as-
sumption of an unchanging axial density gradient im-
plies that the fluctuations in horizontal pressure
differences are due to fluctuations in sea level, and are
therefore barotropic. The depth-dependent pressure gra-
dient can then be written as the sum of a depth-inde-
pendent fluctuating part, a time-independent baroclinic
part, and a time-averaged offset:
where H is the total depth, square brackets denote depth
averages, and overbars denote time averages. The time-
independent baroclinic component is estimated from hy-
drographic data. Density time series are not available,
but the hydrographic surveys suggest that the density
Lag difference across the length of the lagoon changes little
(8) with season, and we take g]r/]x to be 10 23 Pa m 22 . We
24 adopt the procedure suggested by Geyer et al. (2000),
who estimate the mean offset [p x ] by requiring that the
201 bottom stress and bottom velocity go to zero at the same
204
206 time. This requirement gives values of [p x ] between 0.01
and 0.03 Pa m 21 . On tidal timescales, the magnitude of
the time varying component of ]p/]x is 0.05 Pa m 21 .
In depths of 10 m the baroclinic component is ten times
smaller, a further justification for neglecting fluctuations
in baroclinic pressure.
3. Dynamics
a. Governing equations
In a coordinate system where x runs along the axis
of the lagoon from the ocean toward the closed end, y
runs laterally to the west, and z is measured from the
surface, the equations of motion can be written as
ux 1 y y 1 wz 5 0
r(u t 1 uu x 1 y u y 1 wu z 2 f y ) 5 2p x 1 t zx
r(y t 1 uy x 1 yy y 1 wy z 1 fu) 5 2p y 1 t zy , (3)
where t x and t y are the axial and lateral components of
stress and f is the Coriolis parameter.
The vertical velocity is 908 out of phase with the
elevation and thus in phase with the axial velocity (Table
1). The lateral velocity is much smaller than and out of
phase from the axial velocity (Table 2), so u x is expected
to be much larger than y y . The continuity equation then
(1) reduces to a balance between u x and w z , and provides
an estimate for the axial velocity U ø veL, where v is
the tidal frequency, e 5 h/H, H is the height, and L is
the length.
In the axial momentum equation, the lateral advection
(y u y ) can be neglected because u and y are out of phase
and because the ratio y /u is much smaller than the ratio
of the width to the length of the lagoon. The relative
importance of the vertical and axial advective terms
depends on the vertical gradient of axial velocity: if u z
is estimated as U/H, the axial and vertical advective
terms are of the same order. Usually, the vertical gra-
dients in axial velocity are confined to a layer of thick-
ness less than H, and most analyses end up ignoring the
vertical advection of momentum. The same approach is
taken here.
Many models of the tidal component of circulation
assume that the local acceleration, friction, and baro-
tropic pressure gradients dominate over the advective

1 2
]p ]p9 ]r H terms. However, in areas where the axial topography
5 b2g z1 1 [p x ], (2)
]x ]x ]x 2 changes rapidly, as in the central portion of LSI, axial

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1370 JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
velocity gradients in velocity can be large and advection
is significant. It is also important to note that the average
of the advective terms over a tidal cycle is not zero:
during flood the velocity decreases with x, so uu x is
negative, and during ebb u is negative, u x is positive.
Thus uu x is always negative or zero, and we show later
that advection can provide the dominant forcing for the
residual circulation.
The terms including y in the lateral momentum equa-
tion are much smaller than comparable terms in the axial
component and, as long as the lateral component of the
surface stress is negligible, the lateral momentum bal-
ance is geostrophic.
b. Vertical averages
Based on the simplifications described above, the ver-
tically integrated equations of motion can be written
h t 1 {H(1 1 e)[u]} x 5 0
rH(1 1 e)([u] t 1 [uu x ] 1 gh x 2 f [y ]) 5 t s 2 t b
f [u] 5 2gh y . (4)
Proudman (1923) first suggested that, if advective
terms can be neglected, t b can be estimated from the
linearized form of Eq. (4):
t b 5 t s 2 rH([u] t 2 f [y ] 1 gh x ). (5)
This method is commonly used (Grace 1936, 1937;
Bowden and Fairbairn 1952; Geyer et al. 2000) to es-
timate t b , given estimates of pressure gradient and local
acceleration. The bottom drag coefficient can then be
determined by comparing t b with r | [u] | [u]. An attempt
to do the same with the observations gathered in the
course of this program is only partly successful.
In Fig. 4 estimates of r | [u] | [u] are compared to the
terms on the right-hand side of Eq. (5). At station 4,
closest to the ocean, the correlation between the vari-
ables is obvious, even if the slope of the regression is
different for positive and negative values. At station 3,
the correlation changes dramatically depending on the
sign of the current: for ebb flow the pattern corresponds
to what is expected for a linear balance, but for flood,
the right hand side of Eq. (5) is small, even when flood
velocities (and therefore bottom stresses) are large. The
dominant advective term, [uu x ], acts in only one direc-
tion, and could therefore explain the observed asym-
metry. Furthermore, the continuity equation shows that
h and u x are out of phase, just as h and u (Table 1), so
u and u x are in phase. To explore this further, we assume
that the vertically integrated advective term can be es-
timated as
[u 2 ]
[uu x ] ø 2 , (6)
l
where l is a length that characterizes the local spatial
gradient in u and the minus sign is chosen because u
VOLUME 33
and u x are of opposite sign. Then, since [y ] is small,
the bottom stress is
1 2
[u 2 ]
t b 5 t s 2 rH(1 1 e) [u] t 2 1 gh x
l
5 rC d |[u]|[u]. (7)
The method outlined in the appendix can be used to
estimate both C d and l from the best fit slopes for pos-
itive and negative flow. The importance of the advective
terms stands in contrast to published reports of the fluc-
tuating axial tidal momentum balance (Grace 1936,
1937; Bowden and Fairbairn 1952; Geyer et al. 2000),
and is one of the salient features of this analysis.
The average tidal cycle (ATC), defined as the average
of any property as a function of tidal phase, is computed
by dividing time series into sections of length equal to
the M 2 period and averaging the sections. The ATCs of
different terms in Eq. (7) are illustrated in the lower
panels of Fig. 4 with time starting at high water. At
station 4, the pressure gradient and deceleration are in
balance at the beginning of the ebb phase; then, as the
current speed increases, advection and bottom friction
both resist the flow and combine to reverse [u] t about
four hours after high water. When the flood phase be-
gins, acceleration and pressure gradient are once again
in balance. As the axial current increases, advection and
friction act in opposite directions. At station 3, the pro-
gression is different. During the ebb phase the pressure
gradient mostly balances the acceleration, and advection
and bottom stress are relatively weak as a consequence
of weak ebb currents, but both act to retard the flow.
During flood, the main balance is between advection
and bottom friction: advection of higher velocity water
from areas closer to the ocean produce a positive ac-
celeration, and the bottom friction acts in the opposite
sense. The resulting cycle is asymmetric, and flood ve-
locities are larger than ebb velocities. Because flood and
neap periods are about equal, this leads to a net residual
flow directed away from the ocean.
c. Vertical structure
Vertical profiles of the ATC of the axial velocity at
stations 3 and 4 are illustrated in Fig. 5. The current
cycle at station 4 is approximately symmetric although
the ebb current speeds are slightly less than the flood
currents. The current increases monotonically from the
bottom toward the surface for flood and ebb conditions.
At station 3, the flood current increases with distance
over the bottom, but during ebb flow, the largest speeds
occur in the lower half of the water column. The be-
havior at station 3 is consistent with the observations
reported by Geyer et al. (2000) where the ebb velocities
are monotonic, but flood velocities exhibit a subsurface
maximum, because the sense of the baroclinic forcing
in LSI is in the opposite direction from the Hudson.
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FIG. 4. (top) Regression between r | [u] | [u] and t 0 2 H(r[u] t 2 p x ). The white lines represent the best fit
for positive and negative values [u]. The regression slopes are used to estimate C d and l. For station 4, C d
5 2.77 3 10 23 and l 5 14.4 km. For station 3, C d 5 2.6 3 10 23 and l 5 4.2 km. (bottom) Average tidal
cycles of terms in the vertically averaged momentum balance: light solid: ru t , heavy solid: t b /H, dashed:
2p x , dotted: 2[u] 2 /l. The origin of time is high tide in the adjacent ocean. Left-hand column corresponds
to estimates for station 4, nearest the ocean; right-hand column corresponds to station 3.

Time series of stress at different heights in the water only reported when the correlation coefficient was sig-
column are estimated from nificantly different from zero. These values are large

E[1
and imply that the tide is an effective mixing mechanism
t (z) 5 t s 2
z
h

r ut 2
u2
l 2
2 f y 1 p x dz.
]
In this calculation the offset pressure gradient [p x ] is
(8)
adjusted so that the bottom stress and the velocity mea-
sured closest to the bottom go to zero at the same time.
This gives [p x ] 5 0.009 Pa m 21 at station 4 and [p x ]
5 0.03 Pa m 21 at station 3. Vertical profiles of the ATC
of stress at stations 3 and 4 are illustrated in Fig. 5. The
stress varies almost linearly from the surface to a max-
imum value near the bottom. At station 4, the magnitude
of the flood stress (max 5 1.4 Pa) is larger than the ebb
(min 5 20.9 Pa), consistent with the larger flood cur-
rents. The stress is also larger during flood at station 3
(max 5 0.7 Pa) than on ebb (min 5 2.48 Pa). At both
stations the mean bottom friction resists the mean flow
that is directed toward the closed end.
At stations 3 and 4, time series of stress and vertical
shear are significantly correlated beneath the surface.
The vertical profile of K, estimated as the regression
slope between stress and shear as suggested by Geyer
et al. (2000), is illustrated in Fig. 6. Values of K are
in the lagoon. The gradient Richardson number Ri 5
g(]r/]z)/r(]u/]z) 2 measures the stabilizing influence of
buoyancy relative to the shear. At station 4, the maxi-
mum value of g(]r/]z)/r was 5 3 10 24 s 22 . Typical
values of (]u/]z) 2 near maximum flood or ebb are 5 3
10 23 s 22 , and so Ri is less than the critical value of one-
quarter at least twice on each tidal cycle, consistent with
the well-mixed character of the lagoon.
d. Tidal averages and residual circulation
Vertical profiles of time-averaged axial currents at
stations 3 and 4 are illustrated in Fig. 7. One of the
central results presented here is that the time-averaged
axial velocity at all depths at both stations is directed
toward the closed end of the lagoon at all depths. These
profiles stand in marked contrast to the vertical profiles
of tidally averaged velocity presented by Geyer et al.
(2000), where the mean flow changes direction with
depth. Many models of density-driven exchange are
based on a vertically stratified structure (Pritchard 1954,

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1372 JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY VOLUME 33

FIG. 5. (top) Maps of the vertical structure of the ATC of the axial component of current (m s 21 ).
Negative (toward the ocean) currents are shaded. (bottom) Maps of the vertical structure of the ATC of
the axial shear stress (Pa) estimated from Eq. (8). Negative (toward the ocean) stresses are shaded. The
left-hand column corresponds to estimates for station 4, nearest the ocean; and the right-hand column
corresponds to station 3.

FIG. 7. Vertical profiles of time-averaged axial current (heavy line)

at station 3 (dashed) and station 4 (solid). Averages for spring and
FIG. 6. Vertical eddy viscosity estimates based on the regression neap tides are drawn as light lines. Spring averages are always larger
between t and r]u/]z for stations 3 and 4. than time averages, and neap averages are smaller.

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JULY 2003 W I N A N T A N D G U T I É R R E Z D E V E L A S C O
1956; Godfrey 1980). Hogg et al. (2001) describe the
evolution of density-driven exchange flows as a function
of turbulent mixing in a channel where the width is
constant in each section. When the mixing is weak, the
circulation corresponds to the prediction of internal hy-
draulic theory. At high turbulence levels, the circulation
is established by a balance between advection and dif-
fusion. The progression with turbulence levels is con-
sistent with the experimental results of Linden and
Simpson (1986). In all these examples, the vertically
integrated transport is zero. In LSI it is not. Since the
transport over a tidal cycle across any section perpen-
dicular to the axis of the lagoon has to be small, we
conclude that the direction of the vertically integrated
transport must change across a section and that the cir-
culation takes place in the horizontal plane.
Fischer (1972) first demonstrated that estuaries where
the cross section is not rectangular can support such a
transverse circulation, where the amplitude and direc-
tion of the flow varies laterally. Fischer (1976) illustrates
how the salt balance in an estuary can be maintained
by a laterally variable circulation pattern. Murray and
Siripong (1978) show that salt fluxes due to lateral gra-
dients account for 50% more transport than fluxes as-
sociated with vertical gradients in a shallow well-mixed
estuary in Ecuador. Wong (1994) documents significant
transverse variability in Delaware Bay and develops
models that show how such a structure can develop in
a V-shaped channel. Li and O’Donnell (1997) develop
a model of tidally driven residual circulation in a lat-
erally variable closed estuary and conclude that a net
landward transport will occur in the shallow areas, bal-
anced by a return flow in the deeper areas.
To document the behavior of residual currents in LSI,
we compute low frequency fluctuations by filtering the
observations with a 48-h cutoff low pass filter. The ver-
tical structure of residual axial currents at stations 3 and
4 is illustrated in Fig. 8. The residual fluctuations in the
internal Froude number, estimated as Fr i 5
Ïr[u 2 ]/gD rH, are illustrated in the bottom panel: Fr i
varies with the spring–neap cycle. There is an obvious
correspondence between vertical structure of residual
currents and Fr i . During spring tides, when Fr i is greater
than one half, residual currents are positive at all depths
at both stations. Maximum amplitudes exceed 0.2 m s 21
at station 3 and 0.05 m s 21 at station 4. During neap
periods, when Fr i is less than one-half, currents in the
lower half of the water column reverse, and the vertical
structure of currents is as expected for a buoyancy-driv-
en flow. In LSI, the structure and amplitude of the re-
sidual circulation depends on the spring–neap cycle but
in the opposite direction from the model proposed by
Li and O’Donnell (1997).
The low-pass filtering process used to isolate the re-
sidual axial circulation is applied to the bottom stress
estimates to determine the residual bottom stress at sta-
tion 3. The stress estimates depend on the pressure gra-
dient [as in Eq. (8)]. The fluctuating component of the
1373
FIG. 8. Contours of residual axial currents as a function of time
and depth. Negative values (toward the ocean) are shaded. At station
3, contours are spaced 0.05 m s 21 apart; at station 4, contour incre-
ments are 0.02 m s 21 . The internal Froude number is shown in the
bottom panel for station 3 (light line) and station 4 (heavy line).
pressure gradient [Eq. (2)] estimated for station 4 is
based on a synthetic series for pressure outside LSI that
does not include low frequency changes, and as a result
low frequency changes in pressure gradient are not
known at station 4. The time-dependence of residual
near-bottom currents and bottom stress at station 3 are
compared to each other in the top frame of Fig. 9. The
excellent correlation between the two variables implies
that they can be related by a linear drag law. For the
Hudson estuary, Geyer et al. (2000) report that the tid-
ally averaged stress varies little between springs and
neaps. In LSI, the opposite is true: both the amplitude
and the sign of the stress change between springs and
neaps.
An equation for the residual variables can be derived
from Eq. (7) by filtering out the tidal fluctuations. If the
residual quantities are denoted by a subscript 0, and for
e K 1, we expand (1 1 e) 21 ø 1 2 e:
(et b )0 [u 2 ]0 ][p]0 (t s )0 t
1r 2 1 2 0 5 0, (9)
H l ]x H(1 1 e) H
where the time rate of change of the residual vertically
averaged velocity has been neglected. Here t 0 is the
residual bottom stress, often parameterized in terms of
the tidally averaged near bottom velocity as t 0 5 rRu 0 .
The residual circulation is forced by the first two terms
that together represent the tidal stress (Nihoul and Ron-
day 1975). The first is the correlation between elevation
and bottom stress, and the second term is the time av-
eraged advective term.
The low-frequency fluctuations of the five terms in
Eq. (9) are illustrated in the bottom panel of Fig. 9. The
advection term dominates over the ht correlation, as
expected when the tidal wave is standing. The wind
stress term is small, and advection is balanced by a
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1374 JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY VOLUME 33

FIG. 9. Residual fluctuations at station 3 during the 3-month period from Sep through Nov 1998.
The low-pass bottom stress (heavy solid) is compared with near-bottom residual current (light
solid) in the top panel. The bottom panel compares the five terms in Eq. (9): bottom stress (heavy
solid), ht correlation (solid light, difficult to distinguish from the horizontal axis), advection (solid
dots), surface stress (open symbols), and pressure gradient (light dashed). Each parameter has the
same sign as in Eq. (9), and so all five parameters add to a small residual at each time.

combination of pressure gradient and bottom stress. The
pressure gradient is expected to vary little across any
section, but the advective forcing is expected to vary
considerably since the amplitude of the tidal current is
a function of depth. This explains why the residual bot-
tom stress can act in opposite directions at different
lateral locations in each section.
Neglecting the ht correlation, the time-averaged axial
momentum equation at any depth is
r u2 ]p ]t
rf y 1 2 1 5 0.
l ]x ]z
The vertical structure of the time-averaged terms in Eq.
(10) can be evaluated for both stations 3 and 4 since
the unknown residual fluctuating pressure gradient at
station 4 disappears when taking the mean. In the south-
ern part of LSI, the low-frequency lateral velocity y is
very small, and the corresponding Coriolis acceleration
is neglected. The vertical distribution of the time-av-
eraged advective term, the horizontal pressure gradient,
and the vertical stress divergence are illustrated in Fig.
10. The advective part of the tidal stress always drives
the flow toward the closed end, both during ebb and
flood. The magnitude of this term increases with height
over the bottom, as does the tidal velocity. The advective
term is larger at station 3 than at station 4 even though
the velocity is larger at station 4 because the charac-
teristic distance l over which the velocity changes is
smaller at station 3. The mean stress (not shown) ini-
tially increases with distance above the bottom, reaches
a maximum just beneath the middle of the water column,
and decreases to zero at the surface. This is why t z is
positive near the bottom and changes sign when the
stress reaches a maximum. The pressure gradient 2p x
is made up of two parts: the average, or barotropic,
gradient and a depth-dependent baroclinic component.
The rectified effect of advection tends to accelerate the
residual flow at all depths, and the time-averaged pres-
(10) sure gradient acts in the opposite sense, with slightly
larger amplitude near bottom due to the axial density
gradient. Near the top of the water column the stress
divergence retards the residual flow and acts in the op-
posite sense near the bottom.
It is useful to contrast the low-frequency momentum
balance presented here with the balance in the Hudson
estuary implied by the results of Geyer et al. (2000). In
the Hudson, the tidally averaged stress is almost the
same for springs and neaps, and the stress decreases
with distance over the bottom, so that t z is about 22
3 10 22 Pa m 21 near the bottom and increases to zero
about 12 m above. The pressure gradient 2p x is given
as 20.9 3 10 22 Pa m 21 at the surface and 3.1 3 10 22
Pa m 21 at the bottom. In the Hudson, the time-averaged
pressure gradient balances the stress, whereas in the
southern LSI, pressure gradient and stress divergence
combine to balance advection. This description explains

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JULY 2003 W I N A N T A N D G U T I É R R E Z D E V E L A S C O
FIG. 10. Vertical structures of terms in Eq. (10). The advective
term ru 2 /l is represented by the solid symbols, the stress divergence
term t z is represented by the heavy solid line, and the pressure gra-
dient term 2px is represented by the dashed line.
why in southern LSI the time-averaged pressure gradient
is positive (higher mean pressure away from the ocean),
whereas the reverse is true in the Hudson estuary.
4. Discussion
a. Residual transport
The results described to this point suggest that the
exchange is due to residual circulation that varies lat-
erally as well as vertically. A sequence of transects
across the lagoon, occupied over longer than one semi-
diurnal period, gives a complementary view of the re-
sidual transport and the variability in structure depend-
ing on axial location. Sections of currents parallel and
perpendicular to the axis of the lagoon were obtained
on repeated crossings, and water-mass properties were
surveyed on each return trip. These data were inter-
polated onto a spatial grid with regular spacing as a
function of y and z and then interpolated in time to give
1375
sections at 30-min intervals. The resulting maps were
used to form salt transport estimates and integrated in
time to make sections of the average velocity and the
average salt flux over a tidal cycle. Since salt does not
accumulate in the lagoon but evaporation does result in
a net loss of mass, the length of integration was chosen
so that the net salt flux through the section would be
zero. In all cases this occurred at a time when the net
volume flux through the section was close to the flux
required to balance evaporation (Q ø 10 m 3 s 21 ). On
this basis, even though the period of observations was
limited to a single tidal cycle, the resulting maps are
believed to qualitatively represent the variability of the
distribution of net transport in each section.
The distribution of the axial velocity averaged over
a tidal cycle for each of the five transects is illustrated
in Fig. 11. The values range between 60.1 m s 21 for
transect A, south of the islands, to 60.15 m s 21 for
transect E, consistent with the averages shown in Fig.
7. In the north (transect A) the transport distribution
changes direction with depth and resembles the pattern
expected when baroclinic forcing is dominant, that is,
relatively fresh water flowing into the lagoon near the
surface and denser water flowing toward the ocean at
depth. The pattern of tidally averaged velocity along
transect B lies somewhere in between vertically and
horizontally distributed circulation. Near station 3, on
transect C, the principal area of positive flow (toward
the closed end) is in the western channel and the return
flow is over the flats and the eastern channel. South of
Punta Piedras, the tidally averaged flow is horizontally
distributed with positive values on the eastern side and
the reverse on the west side. The sectional distribution
of tidally averaged velocity shows a progression from
a two-layer structure away from the ocean to a laterally
variable structure closer to the ocean.
The moored observation and the surveys show that,
in LSI, the sense of the residual transport is away from
the ocean over the channels and towards the ocean in
the shallower depths. This is in the opposite direction
from the transport driven by tidal rectification in the
James River (Friedrichs and Hamrick 1996) and in the
opposite direction from the residual flow described by
Li and O’Donnell (1997), but in the same direction as
the model results of Valle-Levinson and O’Donnell
(1996). The different sense of circulation is related to
whether the tidal wave is progressive or standing. In a
long (compared to a frictional scale) estuary, the tidal
wave is progressive near the entrance, h, u, and t b are
in phase; the first term in Eq. (9) is positive and much
larger than the second. Because it is inversely propor-
tional to depth, it is largest in shoal areas, where it
exceeds the pressure gradient (considered independent
of lateral position), and smaller in deeper water. The
bottom stress associated with the residual flow [the last
term on the left-hand side in Eq. (9)] balances the dif-
ference between the forcing and the pressure gradient
and must be positive in the shoal areas, corresponding
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1376 JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY VOLUME 33

to residual flow away from the ocean, and in the opposite

direction in deeper water. In a short estuary, when the
tidal wave is standing, the residual flow is forced by
the second term (the uu x correlation) in Eq. (9). At tidal
frequencies, the axial flow is larger in deeper water
(Friedrichs and Hamrick 1996), and so u 2 is greater in
deeper water than over the shoals. The lateral structure
of the forcing is the opposite from that due to the ht
correlation, largest in deep water, where it exceeds the
pressure gradient and drives residual flow away from
the ocean, and small in shoal areas, where the residual
flow is toward the ocean. This analysis is consistent with
the results of a numerical calculation described by Li
(1996), for a long closed estuary. That calculation shows
a residual flow that consists of two separate cells. In
one cell, located near the mouth, the residual flow is
toward the ocean in the deeper area and, in the cell
closest to the closed end, the residual flow is away from
the ocean in the deeper area, as in LSI. The boundary
between the two cells is at the location where the two
first terms in Eq. (9) combine to produce a forcing that
has little lateral variability. Seaward from that boundary,
the ht correlation dominates and sets the sense of the
residual flow toward the ocean in the deeper part of the
estuary. Landward, the u 2 term is largest and the residual
flow is in the opposite sense.

b. Exchange
The structure of the residual circulation depends on
the relative importance of advection and buoyancy, as
measured by Fr i . During neap tides, when Fr i is small,
the moored observations suggest that a two-layer flow
develops, driven by the baroclinic pressure gradient.
Geyer et al. (2000) propose a model for the estuarine
circulation where the estuarine exchange velocity Du y
is a function of the baroclinic pressure gradient and the
friction velocity R:
1 H 2 H l g ]r
Duy 5 2 , (11)
2R H u r ]x
where H u and H l are the depths of the upper and lower
layers. This expression gives a value of 5 3 10 22 m s 21
for neap periods, in reasonable agreement with the ob-
servations of vertical profiles of residual current during
neaps (Fig. 8).
When tidal amplitudes become larger, the observed
residual currents are in the same direction at all depths,

←
FIG. 11. Maps of the average axial velocity over a single tidal
cycle, defined as the time required for the tidally averaged salt flux
to go to zero. The sections are drawn as if the observer was looking
toward the closed end, with east on the right. The single contour
drawn in each frame corresponds to zero velocity. Lighter shades
correspond to positive (toward the closed end) currents. The local
Fr i , based on the maximum of vertically averaged fluctuating currents,
is shown in the lower-right-hand corner of each map.

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JULY 2003 W I N A N T A N D G U T I É R R E Z D E V E L A S C O
and the momentum balance is represented by Eq. (9).
Ignoring forcing due to the ht correlation and with a
linearized residual bottom stress, the residual axial mo-
mentum balance is
t0 Ru [u 2 ]0 1 ][p]0
5 15 2 , (12)
rH1 H1 l r ]x
where u1 and H1 are representative residual velocities
and depths in the high tidal current area. This is the
balance of forces illustrated in Fig. 9. Where tidal am-
plitudes are small, the tidal stress is negligible, and
t0 Ru ][p]0
5 252 . (13)
rH2 H2 ]x
The difference in bottom stress at different locations
along a given section is then given by the difference
between Eq. (12) and (13). When the hu correlation can
be neglected, mass conservation requires that u1 A1 1
u2 A2 5 0, where A represents cross-sectional areas as-
sociated with positive and negative flows. If Du l rep-
resents the advection driven exchange velocity,
u2 A2 H1 H2
Du l 5 . (14)
Rl A1 H1 1 A2 H2
For a given R, the exchange velocity varies as u 2 /l. This
is consistent with the result that the residual velocity is
larger at station 3 than at station 4 (Fig. 7), even though
the tidal currents are larger at station 4. Geometric factors
aside, Dul /Duy 5 Fri2. During spring tides when tidal
currents are of order 1 m s 21 , Eq. (14) gives Dul ø 0.15
m s 21 , also in reasonable agreement with Fig. 8.
On an annual basis, 10 m 3 s 21 of water evaporates
from LSI. Since the salinity of the adjacent ocean is 34
psu, the evaporation leaves about 340 kg s 21 of salt
behind. How does this compare with the transports due
either to buoyancy-driven or advection driven residual
circulation? For a typical vertical salinity difference Ds y
of 0.4 psu for neaps, we can estimate a salt flux toward
the ocean due to the vertically sheared flow Du y as
rDu y Ds y A s where A s is a typical sectional area. This
amounts to 400 kg s 21 , close to the salt flux due to
evaporation. During springs, when the residual flow is
laterally variable, lateral variations in salinity Ds l are
about 0.1 psu, and the resulting salt flux, rDu lDs l A s is
about 300 kg s 21 , again close to the flux due to evap-
oration. With regard to the overall issue considered here,
that is by what means does the salinity in the lagoon
reach a seasonally variable steady state, these estimates
lead us to conclude that the flux due to residual circu-
lations induced by advection, during spring tides, and
by buoyancy, during neaps, accounts for the return flux
to the ocean.
5. Summary and conclusions
The nonlinear processes associated with advection in-
fluence the tidal circulation and the residual currents in
1377
the part of LSI closest to the ocean, where tidal current
amplitudes are large. At tidal periods, the axial mo-
mentum balance involves local acceleration, advection,
barotropic pressure gradients, and friction. Advective
terms are locally important because axial velocity gra-
dients can be large due to changes in bathymetry. Be-
cause axial currents and their axial gradient are in phase
and of opposite sign, the advective term has a large
mean value that is balanced by a comparably large mean
axial pressure gradient. Ever since the work of Proud-
man (1923), studies of tidal circulation in comparable
environments suggest that the bottom friction can be
parameterized through a quadratic drag law, and the
same is found here, with typical drag coefficients of 3
3 10 23 .
At low frequencies (in comparison with the tides),
the structure and dynamics of the residual circulation
depend on the ratio of the variance in the tidal band
currents to the baroclinic forcing, as measured by the
internal Froude number. When Fr i is less than one-half,
the residual circulation consists of a relatively salty and
dense near-bottom flow toward the ocean and a com-
pensating, relatively fresh flow near the surface. In that
case, the model of baroclinic estuarine exchange pro-
posed by Geyer et al. (2000) appears to describe the
situation in LSI well. However, for most of the time in
the southern part of LSI, Fr i is large and the residual
circulation, driven by the advective part of the tidal
stress, fluctuates with the spring–neap cycle. Residual
currents, often larger than those associated with the bar-
oclinic forcing, are quasi-barotropic and the resulting
circulation is laterally variable. In this case the ampli-
tude of the laterally varying currents is governed by the
ratio of the variance in tidal currents to the friction
velocity. Even though the tidally driven recirculation is
larger than the exchange driven by the axial density
gradient, the ocean bound salt flux is comparable in both
cases because lateral salinity gradients on which the
large Fr i exchange acts are smaller than the vertical
gradients on which the buoyancy-driven exchange acts.
Last, the high evaporation rates that characterize the
area surrounding the Baja California lagoons result in
a net loss of freshwater with an attendant increase in
salinity. About 10 m 3 s 21 of freshwater evaporates, leav-
ing behind about 340 kg s 21 of salt. Salt does not ac-
cumulate in the lagoons to any significant extent and
must therefore be carried back to the Pacific Ocean by
mixing and advection. Three processes are responsible
for the exchange: baroclinic forcing associated with the
increased salinity and density resulting from evapora-
tion, wind-driven circulation, and the residual circula-
tion driven by the tides. This report has described the
relative importance of baroclinic forcing and tidal cir-
culation in the southern half of LSI and shows that the
fluxes associated with residual circulation due to either
mechanism are comparable to the flux into the lagoon
due to evaporation.
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1378 JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
Acknowledgments. The work described here was the
result of a collaboration between Centri de Investigation
Cientificas y de Education Superior de Ensenada (CI-
CESE) and Scripps Institution of Oceanography to eval-
uate the potential environmental impact of the devel-
opment of a sea salt production facility in LSI. Funds
were provided by Exportadora de Sal, S.A de C.V, Mex-
ico. We are particularly grateful to J. Bremer, T. Mi-
yauchi, and J. Brumm for their support and encourage-
ment. We thank Alexandria Boehm, Bart Chadwick,
Charles Coughran, Jim Lerczak, and Emily Pidgeon
who provided valuable suggestions on an early version
of this work. We thank Carl Friedrichs and another anon-
ymous reviewer whose comments significantly im-
proved the presentation. We also acknowledge Martin
Garcia Aguilar and Hernando Torres Chavez whose help
in the field made this work possible.
APPENDIX
Estimating C d and l
Because h and u are out of phase, we rewrite Eq.
(7) as
[u 2 ] C
2 (1 1 e)([u] t 1 gh x ) 5 d |[u]|[u], (A1)
l H
and, since u varies little with depth (Table 2), [u ] ø 2
[u] 2 . When [u] is positive,
1l 2 H 2
1 Cd
(1 1 e)([u] t 1 gh x ) 5 [u] 2
5 a1 r[u] 2 , (A2)
and, when [u] is negative,
FIG. A1. Bottom stress estimates for station 3 based on the linear
[Eq. (5): closed symbols] and nonlinear [Eq. (7): open circles] for-
mulations.
VOLUME 33
1l 1 H 2
1 Cd
(1 1 e)([u] t 1 gh x ) 5 [u] 2
5 a2 r[u] 2 . (A3)
The regression coefficients a are determined from
separate regression analyses for positive and negative
values of [u]. The unknown coefficients are then com-
puted as
H(a1 2 a2 )
Cd 5 (A4)
2
2
l5 . (A5)
a1 1 a2
This procedure yields values of the drag coefficient
(2.8 3 10 23 at station 4 and 2.6 3 10 23 at station 3)
that are in agreement with values of C d published else-
where. The value of l (14.4 km) at station 4 is in rea-
sonable agreement with the overall length of the lagoon.
At station 3, the value of l is 4.2 km, comparable to the
distance over which the topography of the channels
changes in that area. Values of bottom stress for station
3, based on the linear [Eq. (5)] and nonlinear [Eq. (7)]
formulations, are illustrated in Fig. A1.
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