When the mouth of the Russian River Estuary closes after large waves deposit sand there, seawater...

 

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When the mouth of the Russian River Estuary closes after large waves deposit sand there, seawater trapped in the estuary forms a distinct lower layer underneath the inflowing river water. The oxygen demand due to decomposing organic material in that lower layer is represented by a decay rate of 0.15 per day. The strong stratification between the dense seawater and less-dense river water limits vertical mixing so that D = 0.1 cm²/s. If the bottom layer is 3-m deep, what is the ultimate steady state oxygen concentration in that water, assuming the surface layer is saturated with oxygen so that concentration is 7 mg/L? Can this seawater layer provide habitat for juvenile steelhead trout that require 3 mg/L minimum oxygen concentration? [2.73 mg/L] When the mouth of the Russian River Estuary closes after large waves deposit sand there, seawater trapped in the estuary forms a distinct lower layer underneath the inflowing river water. The oxygen demand due to decomposing organic material in that lower layer is represented by a decay rate of 0.15 per day. The strong stratification between the dense seawater and less-dense river water limits vertical mixing so that D = 0.1 cm²/s. If the bottom layer is 3-m deep, what is the ultimate steady state oxygen concentration in that water, assuming the surface layer is saturated with oxygen so that concentration is 7 mg/L? Can this seawater layer provide habitat for juvenile steelhead trout that require 3 mg/L minimum oxygen concentration? [2.73 mg/L]

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Analyzing the Oxygen Concentration in the Seawater Layer Modeling the System We can model the oxygen ... View the full answer