This is the first book for over twenty years on the physical, biological, chemical and geological characteristics of a large-scale estuary. Interdisciplinary, concise and cohesive, it is applicable as a model for worldwide estuary study. From the contents: Mathematical Modeling of Tides in the St. Lawrence Estuary. - Fronts and Mesoscale Features in the St. Lawrence Estuary. - Nearshore Sediment Dynamics in the St. Lawrence Estuary. - Organic Geochemical Studies in the St. Lawrence Estuary.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
1. The St. Lawrence Estuary: Introduction. - Why this book ? . - Historical notes. - A large estuary. - of the volume. - 2. Mathematical Modelling of Tides in the St. Lawrence Estuary. - Tidal characteristics of the St. Lawrence Estuary. - Barotropic models. - Baroclinic models. - Conclusions. - 3. Meteorologically and Buoyancy Induced Subtidal Salinity and Velocity Variations in the St. Lawrence Estuary. - Field observation and data analysis. - The meteorological and buoyancy forcing. - The meteorologically induced variations. - The buoyancy induced variations. - Summary and conclusions. - 4. Fronts and Mesoscale Features in the St. Lawrence Estuary. - Upper Estuary. - Lower Estuary. - The Gaspe Current. - Conclusions. - 5. Topographic Waves and Topographically Induced Motions in the St. Lawrence Estuary. - Internal waves. - Internal tides and upwelling. - Vorticity waves. - Conclusions. - 6. Recent Sediments and Sediment Transport Processes in the St. Lawrence Estuary. - Physiography. - Late glacial and Holocene history. - Quaternary stratigraphy. - Distribution of surficial sediments. - Suspended sediment dynamics and composition. - Sediment mass balance. - Summary and conclusions. - 7. Nearshore Sediment Dynamics in the St. Lawrence Estuary. - General setting. - Mechanisms of nearshore sediment dynamics. - Long term trends: erosional and accretional shorelines. - Summary and conclusions. - 8. Reactivity and transport of nutrients and metals in the St. Lawrence Estuary. - Nutrients. - Trace metals. - Metal transport. - Comparison to other estuaries. - 9. Organic Geochemical Studies in the St. Lawrence Estuary. - Annual cycles of organic matter. - Stable isotope ratios. - Molecular tracers. - Summary. - 10. Sediment-Water Interaction and Early Diagenesis in the Laurentian Trough. - Diagenesis in the Laurentian Trough. - Manganese, a case study in diagenesis. - Considerations for future research. - 11. Chemical Contaminants in the St. Lawrence Estuary and Saguenay Fjord. - Metals. - Organics. - Conclusions. - 12. Oceanography and Ecology of Phytoplankton in the St. Lawrence Estuary. - Environmental control of phytoplankton biomass and production. - Regional divisions of the St. Lawrence Estuary. - 13. Zooplankton of the St. Lawrence Estuary: The Imprint of Physical Processes on its Composition and Distribution. - Results and discussion. - 14. Ichthyoplankton Communities in the St. Lawrence Estuary: Composition and Dynamics. - Physical zonation of the estuary. - Species composition. - Spatial distribution. - Temporal variability. - Conclusions. - 15. The Macrobenthic Fauna of the St. Lawrence Estuary. - The intertidal zone. - The Infralittoral zone. - The circalittoral and bathyal zones. - Concluding remarks. - 16. Marine Fisheries Resources and Oceanography of the St. Lawrence Estuary. - The commercial fisheries. - Importance of the St. Lawrence Estuary on fisheries fluctuations downstream. - 17. The Saguenay Fiord: A Major Tributary to the St. Lawrence Estuary. - Watermass sources and circulation. - Impact of power dams. - Sedimentary processes. - Pollution history and impacts. - Biological considerations. - Summary. - 18. The St. Lawrence Estuary: Concluding Remarks. - For the St. Lawrence Estuary, large-scale means variety. - Future considerations. - List of Contributors.
