Transport Processes in the Gulf of Mexico Along the River-Estuary-Shelf-Ocean Continuum: a Review of Research from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative

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dc.citation.firstpage621
dc.citation.journalTitleEstuaries and Coasts
dc.citation.lastpage657
dc.citation.volumeNumber45
dc.contributor.authorJustić, Dubravko
dc.contributor.authorKourafalou, Villy
dc.contributor.authorMariotti, Giulio
dc.contributor.authorHe, Songjie
dc.contributor.authorWeisberg, Robert
dc.contributor.authorAndroulidakis, Yannis
dc.contributor.authorBarker, Christopher
dc.contributor.authorBracco, Annalisa
dc.contributor.authorDzwonkowski, Brian
dc.contributor.authorHu, Chuanmin
dc.contributor.authorHuang, Haosheng
dc.contributor.authorJacobs, Gregg
dc.contributor.authorLe Hénaff, Matthieu
dc.contributor.authorLiu, Yonggang
dc.contributor.authorMorey, Steven
dc.contributor.authorNittrouer, Jeffrey
dc.contributor.authorOverton, Edward
dc.contributor.authorParis, Claire B.
dc.contributor.authorRoberts, Brian J.
dc.contributor.authorRose, Kenneth
dc.contributor.authorValle-Levinson, Arnoldo
dc.contributor.authorWiggert, Jerry
dc.date.accessioned2022-04-28T14:29:00Z
dc.date.available2022-04-28T14:29:00Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.description.abstractEstuarine and coastal geomorphology, biogeochemistry, water quality, and coastal food webs in river-dominated shelves of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) are modulated by transport processes associated with river inputs, winds, waves, tides, and deep-ocean/continental shelf interactions. For instance, transport processes control the fate of river-borne sediments, which in turn affect coastal land loss. Similarly, transport of freshwater, nutrients, and carbon control the dynamics of eutrophication, hypoxia, harmful algal blooms, and coastal acidification. Further, freshwater inflow transports pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, and oil into receiving estuaries and coastal systems. Lastly, transport processes along the continuum from the rivers and estuaries to coastal and shelf areas and adjacent open ocean (abbreviated herein as “river-estuary-shelf-ocean”) regulate the movements of organisms, including the spatial distributions of individuals and the exchange of genetic information between distinct subpopulations. The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) provided unprecedented opportunities to study transport processes along the river-estuary-shelf-ocean continuum in the GoM. The understanding of transport at multiple spatial and temporal scales in this topographically and dynamically complex marginal sea was improved, allowing for more accurate forecasting of the fate of oil and other constituents. For this review, we focus on five specific transport themes: (i) wetland, estuary, and shelf exchanges; (ii) river-estuary coupling; (iii) nearshore and inlet processes; (iv) open ocean transport processes; and (v) river-induced fronts and cross-basin transport. We then discuss the relevancy of GoMRI findings on the transport processes for ecological connectivity and oil transport and fate. We also examine the implications of new findings for informing the response to future oil spills, and the management of coastal resources and ecosystems. Lastly, we summarize the research gaps identified in the many studies and offer recommendations for continuing the momentum of the research provided by the GoMRI effort. A number of uncertainties were identified that occurred in multiple settings. These include the quantification of sediment, carbon, dissolved gasses and nutrient fluxes during storms, consistent specification of the various external forcings used in analyses, methods for smooth integration of multiscale advection mechanisms across different flow regimes, dynamic coupling of the atmosphere with sub-mesoscale and mesoscale phenomena, and methods for simulating finer-scale dynamics over long time periods. Addressing these uncertainties would allow the scientific community to be better prepared to predict the fate of hydrocarbons and their impacts to the coastal ocean, rivers, and marshes in the event of another spill in the GoM.
dc.identifier.citationJustić, Dubravko, Kourafalou, Villy, Mariotti, Giulio, et al.. "Transport Processes in the Gulf of Mexico Along the River-Estuary-Shelf-Ocean Continuum: a Review of Research from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative." <i>Estuaries and Coasts,</i> 45, (2022) Springer Nature: 621-657. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-021-01005-1.
dc.identifier.digitalTransportProcessesInTheGulfOfM
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-021-01005-1
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/112181
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherSpringer Nature
dc.rightsThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.titleTransport Processes in the Gulf of Mexico Along the River-Estuary-Shelf-Ocean Continuum: a Review of Research from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.dcmiText
dc.type.publicationpublisher version
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