Laboratory Investigations on Estuary Salinity Mixing: Preliminary Analysis

Abstract

Estuaries are bodies of water along the coasts that are formed when fresh water from rivers flows into and mixes with salt water from the ocean. The estuaries serve as a habitat to some aquatic lives, including mangroves. Human-induced activities such as dredging of shipping lanes along the bottom estuarine, the disposal of industrial wastes into the water system and shoreline development influence estuarine dynamics which include mixing process. These activities might contribute to salinity changes and further adversely affect the estuarine ecosystem. In order to study at the characteristics of the mixing between salt water (estuary) and freshwater (river), a preliminary investigation had been done in the laboratory. Fresh water was released from one end of the flume and overflowing at weir at the other end. Meanwhile, salt water was represented by the red dye tracer released through a weir and intruded upstream