Uncovering Fine-Scale Wave-Driven Transport Features in a Fringing Coral Reef System via Lagrangian Coherent Structures
Understanding the transport and exchange of water masses both within a reef and between a reef and the surrounding ocean is needed to describe a wide-range of ecosystem processes that are shaped by the movement of material and heat. We show how novel Lagrangian data processing methods, specifically...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Fluids |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/5/4/190 |
| _version_ | 1797549955464822784 |
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| author | Matthieu Leclair Ryan Lowe Zhenlin Zhang Greg Ivey Thomas Peacock |
| author_facet | Matthieu Leclair Ryan Lowe Zhenlin Zhang Greg Ivey Thomas Peacock |
| author_sort | Matthieu Leclair |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Understanding the transport and exchange of water masses both within a reef and between a reef and the surrounding ocean is needed to describe a wide-range of ecosystem processes that are shaped by the movement of material and heat. We show how novel Lagrangian data processing methods, specifically developed to reveal key and often hidden transport structures, can help visualize flow transport patterns within and around morphologically complex reef systems. As an example case study, we consider the wave-driven flow transport within the Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia. We show that a network of attracting, repelling, and trapping flow transport structures organizes the flow transport into, around, and out of the reef. This approach is broadly applicable to coral reef systems, since the combination of well-defined bathymetry and persistent flow-forcing mechanisms (e.g., by wave breaking or tides) is conducive to the existence of persistent Lagrangian transport structures that organize material transport. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:21:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1baa6888d8454214b9820cdadcbe8f99 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2311-5521 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:21:22Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Fluids |
| spelling | doaj.art-1baa6888d8454214b9820cdadcbe8f992023-11-20T18:22:51ZengMDPI AGFluids2311-55212020-10-015419010.3390/fluids5040190Uncovering Fine-Scale Wave-Driven Transport Features in a Fringing Coral Reef System via Lagrangian Coherent StructuresMatthieu Leclair0Ryan Lowe1Zhenlin Zhang2Greg Ivey3Thomas Peacock4Department of Environmental System Science, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, SwitzerlandARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, School of Earth and Environment and UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, AustraliaARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, School of Earth and Environment and UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, AustraliaOceans Graduate School and UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, AustraliaEnvironmental Dynamics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USAUnderstanding the transport and exchange of water masses both within a reef and between a reef and the surrounding ocean is needed to describe a wide-range of ecosystem processes that are shaped by the movement of material and heat. We show how novel Lagrangian data processing methods, specifically developed to reveal key and often hidden transport structures, can help visualize flow transport patterns within and around morphologically complex reef systems. As an example case study, we consider the wave-driven flow transport within the Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia. We show that a network of attracting, repelling, and trapping flow transport structures organizes the flow transport into, around, and out of the reef. This approach is broadly applicable to coral reef systems, since the combination of well-defined bathymetry and persistent flow-forcing mechanisms (e.g., by wave breaking or tides) is conducive to the existence of persistent Lagrangian transport structures that organize material transport.https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/5/4/190coral reefflow transportLagrangian methods |
| spellingShingle | Matthieu Leclair Ryan Lowe Zhenlin Zhang Greg Ivey Thomas Peacock Uncovering Fine-Scale Wave-Driven Transport Features in a Fringing Coral Reef System via Lagrangian Coherent Structures Fluids coral reef flow transport Lagrangian methods |
| title | Uncovering Fine-Scale Wave-Driven Transport Features in a Fringing Coral Reef System via Lagrangian Coherent Structures |
| title_full | Uncovering Fine-Scale Wave-Driven Transport Features in a Fringing Coral Reef System via Lagrangian Coherent Structures |
| title_fullStr | Uncovering Fine-Scale Wave-Driven Transport Features in a Fringing Coral Reef System via Lagrangian Coherent Structures |
| title_full_unstemmed | Uncovering Fine-Scale Wave-Driven Transport Features in a Fringing Coral Reef System via Lagrangian Coherent Structures |
| title_short | Uncovering Fine-Scale Wave-Driven Transport Features in a Fringing Coral Reef System via Lagrangian Coherent Structures |
| title_sort | uncovering fine scale wave driven transport features in a fringing coral reef system via lagrangian coherent structures |
| topic | coral reef flow transport Lagrangian methods |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/5/4/190 |
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