Oceanography of a Large-Scale Estuarine System, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1990 The St. Lawrence Coastal and Estuarine Studies Series, Vol. 39

This is the first book for over twenty years on the physical, biological, chemical and geological characteristics of a large-scale estuary. Interdisciplinary, concise and cohesive, it is applicable as a model for worldwide estuary study. From the contents: Mathematical Modeling of Tides in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Fronts and Mesoscale Features in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Nearshore Sediment Dynamics in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Organic Geochemical Studies in the St. Lawrence Estuary.

1. The St. Lawrence Estuary: Introduction.- Why this book ?.- Historical notes.- A large estuary.- of the volume.- 2. Mathematical Modelling of Tides in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Tidal characteristics of the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Barotropic models.- Baroclinic models.- Conclusions.- 3. Meteorologically and Buoyancy Induced Subtidal Salinity and Velocity Variations in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Field observation and data analysis.- The meteorological and buoyancy forcing.- The meteorologically induced variations.- The buoyancy induced variations.- Summary and conclusions.- 4. Fronts and Mesoscale Features in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Upper Estuary.- Lower Estuary.- The Gaspe Current.- Conclusions.- 5. Topographic Waves and Topographically Induced Motions in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Internal waves.- Internal tides and upwelling.- Vorticity waves.- Conclusions.- 6. Recent Sediments and Sediment Transport Processes in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Physiography.- Late glacial and Holocene history.- Quaternary stratigraphy.- Distribution of surficial sediments.- Suspended sediment dynamics and composition.- Sediment mass balance.- Summary and conclusions.- 7. Nearshore Sediment Dynamics in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- General setting.- Mechanisms of nearshore sediment dynamics.- Long term trends: erosional and accretional shorelines.- Summary and conclusions.- 8. Reactivity and transport of nutrients and metals in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Nutrients.- Trace metals.- Metal transport.- Comparison to other estuaries.- 9. Organic Geochemical Studies in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Annual cycles of organic matter.- Stable isotope ratios.- Molecular tracers.- Summary.- 10. Sediment-Water Interaction and Early Diagenesis in the Laurentian Trough.- Diagenesis in the Laurentian Trough.- Manganese, a case study in diagenesis.- Considerations for future research.- 11. Chemical Contaminants in the St. Lawrence Estuary and Saguenay Fjord.- Metals.- Organics.- Conclusions.- 12. Oceanography and Ecology of Phytoplankton in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Environmental control of phytoplankton biomass and production.- Regional divisions of the St. Lawrence Estuary.- 13. Zooplankton of the St. Lawrence Estuary: The Imprint of Physical Processes on its Composition and Distribution.- Results and discussion.- 14. Ichthyoplankton Communities in the St. Lawrence Estuary: Composition and Dynamics.- Physical zonation of the estuary.- Species composition.- Spatial distribution.- Temporal variability.- Conclusions.- 15. The Macrobenthic Fauna of the St. Lawrence Estuary.- The intertidal zone.- The Infralittoral zone.- The circalittoral and bathyal zones.- Concluding remarks.- 16. Marine Fisheries Resources and Oceanography of the St. Lawrence Estuary.- The commercial fisheries.- Importance of the St. Lawrence Estuary on fisheries fluctuations downstream.- 17. The Saguenay Fiord: A Major Tributary to the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Watermass sources and circulation.- Impact of power dams.- Sedimentary processes.- Pollution history and impacts.- Biological considerations.- Summary.- 18. The St. Lawrence Estuary: Concluding Remarks.- For the St. Lawrence Estuary, large-scale means variety.- Future considerations.- List of Contributors.