Turbulence and mixing generated by internal waves shoaling on a barrier reef.

Results are presented from an observational study of the turbulent bottom boundary layer on the outer Southeast Florida shelf in July and August 2005. ADCPs and ADVs deployed at 15 m on Conch Reef measured mean and turbulent velocities. Turbulence in the reef bottom boundary layer is highly variable in time and is modified by near bed flow, shear, and stratification driven by shoaling internal waves. In the absence of internal waves on the shelf, currents from 1 to 5 meters above the bed are well described by a logarithmic profile and turbulent dissipation measured 0.6 to 3.0 meters above the bed agrees with classic bottom boundary layer scaling. We examine turbulence in the bottom boundary layer during a typical internal wave event and show that internal waves can induce significant increases in near-bed flow speed, shear, dissipation, and turbulent scalar diffusivity, Kρ. Estimates of flux Richardson number, calculated directly from measurements of dissipation and buoyancy flux, support the dependence of Rf on Frt and on turbulent intensity, ɛ/νN2, relationships that have been previously shown in laboratory and numerical work. Results from this study suggest that for reef communities exposed to continental shelf and slope processes, internal waves may play an important role in mass transfer to benthic organisms. In addition to the episodic onshore transport of cool, subthermocline water masses, with elevated nutrient concentrations, we have shown that the bottom-intensified currents from shoaling internal waves can increase turbulent dissipation and mixing in the reef bottom boundary layer.