New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts

---

Winter oceanographic observations in some New Zealand fiords

B. R. STANTON

New Zealand Oceanographic Institute Division of Marine and Freshwater Science Department of Scientific and Industrial Research P. O. Box 12-346, Wellington North New Zealand

Abstract The winter oceanography of four New Zealand fiords is discussed using data obtained from July 1983, and comparisons are made with data collected on previous summers. Surface waters were more saline in winter than in summer and were everywhere cooler than the underlying water. Deep water renewal in the fiord basins was re-examined using all available data. For Milford Sound and the other deep silled fiords renewal appears to be related to the arrival of dense water at sill depth offshore by an as yet unknown advective or meteorologically forced process. In the more isolated Long Sound, Preservation Inlet, deep water renewal requires the subtle interplay of tidal flows and mixing processes over the shallow double sill. Complete renewal of Long Sound bottom water appears to be a slow process.

Keywords oceanography; winter; fiords; salinity; temperature; freshwater inflow; Milford Sound; George Sound; Thompson Sound; Preservation Inlet

New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1986, Vol. 20: 299-314 Received 3 July 1985; accepted 4 September 1985

PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (999K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)

---

This year's abstracts | Journal home page | All abstracts | Publishing home page