On the energetics of river plume entrainment

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Abstract
There are fundamental differences between the mechanics of entrainment in river plumes and two-layer channel flow. Entrainment of seawater to a river plume is seen to occur predominantly in a frontal region. A simple theory for the energetics of frontal entrainment is applied to river discharge in a wide fjord with a seaward narrows. The salinity of the plume depends on W/B and B/Ho , where W is the width of the narrows, B is the river width and Ho is the river thickness. The theory contains two constants which are determined from laboratory experiments. From laboratory observations, active plume entrainment is estimated to extend to 7 (H + B) seaward. The theory supports the conjecture that river plume entrainment can be simulated in distorted laboratory models as long as B/Ho ≫ 1 in the laboratory.

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