Ocean Transport Pathways to a World Heritage Fringing Coral Reef: Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia.

ABSTRACT: A Lagrangian particle tracking model driven by a regional ocean circulation model was used to investigate the seasonally varying connectivity patterns within the shelf circulation surrounding the 300 km long Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia (WA) during 2009-2010. Forward-in-time simulations revealed that surface water was transported equatorward and offshore in summer due to the upwelling-favorable winds. In winter, however, water was transported polewards down the WA coast due to the seasonally strong Leeuwin Current. Using backward-in-time simulations, the subsurface transport pathways revealed two main source regions of shelf water reaching Ningaloo Reef: (1) a year-round source to the northeast in the upper 100 m of water column; and (2) during the summer, an additional source offsho

SUBMITTER: Xu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4720280 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature