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Jullia Mullarney, Kassi Dallavis and I are contributing to a multi-investigator experiment studying the tidal flats of Skagit Bay. With help from Chris Eager, Nate Raynor, Chris Scheffler, and Lisa Hodges, we deployed an array of current meters and other instruments to resolve the variation of flows across tidal channels. We found that striking fronts formed along the channel-edge during flood tide, as dense salty water over the flats cascaded down into the channels. A paper explaining the tendency of these fronts to form along channel-edges was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

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Work on this project continues: A Henderson-Mullarney paper on wind-generated near-surface currents will soon be submitted to Continental Shelf Research, Steve Henderson is analyzing measurements of the spreading of fresh plumes across Skagit Bay, and MSc student Alyson Day’s thesis will examine the implications of the observed flows for channel erosion.

Further data are available to tidal flats investigators: