PLUMES AND COASTAL CURRENTS NEAR LARGE RIVER MOUTHS

Theory and observations of river plumes are reviewed. The importance of the Kelvin number in characterizing anticipated plume behavior is stressed. In the absence of strong external forcing, a northern hemisphere plume will turn anticyclonically and attach to the coast, where it then merges into a coastal current. Observations and theory of such coastal currents are also reviewed, with emphasis on flaws over shallow continental shelves. Major unresolved questions involve the processes controlling mixing of coastal current waters with ambient shelf waters and the dynamics of the plume in the region where it attaches to the coast.