New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts

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Short communication 

Coastal circulation within the Banks Peninsula region, New Zealand

Janelle V. Reynolds-Fleming

University of Canterbury/National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research Limited
Centre for Excellence in Marine Ecology
and Aquaculture
10 Kyle Street
Christchurch, New Zealand
email: jv.fleming@niwa.co.nz

Jason G. Fleming

National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research Limited
10 Kyle Street
Christchurch, New Zealand
email: j.fleming@niwa.co.nz

Abstract  The transport of nutrients, larvae, and sediment around coastal headlands critically depends on the balance of forces that direct the currents very near to the shore. The Banks Peninsula region, New Zealand, was selected to study nearshore circulation around coastal headlands. The relative influences of tides and wind on the current were determined using an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) deployed 2 km offshore in Pegasus Bay. Results indicated that the M2 tide is the dominant tide and explains 30% of the variance. Low frequency variability was strongly correlated with wind in the offshore direction and explained a further 20–40% of the variability. Finally, mean residual flows were 2 cm/s southward along shore, which supports the hypothesis that an eddy is episodically present in Pegasus Bay. This study is the first to quantitatively document the nearshore circulation in the Banks Peninsula region.

Keywords  Banks Peninsula; Pegasus Bay; coastal circulation; tidal currents; wind-driven currents; ADCP

M04106; Online publication date 18 February 2005
Received 2 May 2004; accepted 29 October 2004
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2005, Vol. 39: 217–225
0028-8330/05/3901-0217 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2005

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