Coastal Flows
Coastal flows occur within the border between land and sea that extends from the surf zone and may include the whole shelf area. The coastal fringe is a region of great ecological importance, which is threatened by land-originated discharges (e.g. rivers, surface and ground water run off). The ecological response depends on the nature of the sources and sinks, as well as the transport and mixing processes in the coastal fringe. Coastal processes occur at a variety of spatial and temporal scales, with extreme (impulsive) events, like storms, often playing a dominant role. This session welcomes observational or numerical studies of the coastal fringe, while emphasizing the following topics:
1) Dispersion in near-shore areas
2) Toxic blooms in the coastal fringe
3) Impulsive events in the coast
4) Biophysical interaction: e.g. flow and transport in kelp forests,
corals, seagrass
5) Water and sediment fluxes in the swash-zone.