Maximum power of saline and fresh water mixing in estuaries

Zhang, Zhilin; Savenije, Hubert

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-10-667-2019

Articles | Volume 10, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-10-667-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Thermodynamics and optimality in the Earth system and its...

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-10-667-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 10, issue 4

Research article

|

30 Oct 2019

Research article |

| 30 Oct 2019

Maximum power of saline and fresh water mixing in estuaries

Zhilin Zhang and Hubert Savenije

Data sets

Salinity and tides in alluvial estuaries H. H. G. Savenije http://salinityandtides.com/

Short summary

Natural systems evolve towards a state of maximum power, including estuarine circulation. The energy of lighter fresh water drives circulation, while it dissipates by friction. This rotational flow causes the spread of salinity, which is represented by the dispersion coefficient. In this paper, the maximum power concept provides a new equation for this coefficient. Together with the steady-state equation, this results in a new analytical model for density-driven salinity intrusion.