A process-based, idealized study of salt and sediment dynamics in well-mixed estuaries

Estuaries are important ecosystems accommodating a large variety of living species. Estuaries are also important to people by their demand of freshwater for drinking, irrigation, and industry. Due to natural changes and human activities, the estuarine water quality, influenced by both salinity and turbidity (the cloudiness or haziness of water), has been greatly changed in many estuaries and may continue to change in the future. To predict and control the salt intrusion and the occurrence of high turbidity levels, it is essential to understand the physical mechanisms governing the estuarine dynamics. To that end, this thesis provides a systematical investigation of the dominant physical processes which result in salt intrusion and the formation of the Estuarine Turbidity Maxima (ETM’s) in well-mixed estuaries.