Title: A numerical study on the circulation and tide in a zigzag bay

Journal: Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 34: 119-128

Authors: YU H. -M., Z. -H. Wang, L. Kuang, L. Wang, X. -W. Bao*, H. Wu, X. Wang, X. -D. Deng

Abstract:The Shacheng Bay (SCB) is one of the most complex coastal bays in southeast China and due to the factof complicated geometry and dynamic coastal processes, it is considered as a challenging area for the numericalsimulation of its hydrodynamic characteristics. The most advanced finite volume ocean model, finite-volume coastal ocean model (FVCOM), has adopted to simulate this hydrodynamic system, where tidalcurrents, tidal residual current and dye diffusion processes were studied and analyzed quantitatively. Thevalidation of this numerical model matches well with various observation data, including elevation andcurrent data. The misfit of a tidal elevation has a relative standard error of 3.66% and 4.67% for M2 and S2tide components. The current validation shows a good match with an average error of 10 cm/s and 8° in thespeed major axis and its direction respectively between the simulation and the measurement. This provesthe robustness and reliability of this model. It is also found that the cape effect is significant and importantin this system. The dye diffusion simulations show a 53 d flushing period for the whole inner bay waterbody.The results are of its first kind for understanding the hydrodynamic system in the SCB and they can providehelpful and trustful