Studies on mixing of the waters of different salinity gradients using Richardsons number and the suspended sediment distribution in the Beypore estuary, south west coast of India

Abstract

29-34<span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";="" color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-in;mso-fareast-language:en-in;mso-bidi-language:="" hi"="" lang="EN-IN">The study was conducted up to 15 km upstream in the Beypore estuary of the Chaliyar river in Calicut. The study area was divided into four sections (5 km interval) with two transverse stations on either side of each section. The logarithmic values of Richardsons number (log RL) shows high variation at river mouth section of the estuary (section-I) and at about 10km upstream (section-II) during the postrnonsoon period. During the premonsoon period there was no noticeable variation in log RL values at section-I and section- II and the estuary was found to be well mixed. During the monsoon period the stratification was higher and the variation in log RL was high from flood to ebb tide. The lower part of the estuary is a turbidity maximum zone, especially during premonsoon season. During the postmonsoon period the concentration of suspended matter was not high compared to premonsoon and monsoon period. There was a high surface value during ebb tide in monsoon period.</span