This is the first book for over twenty years on the physical, biological, chemical and geological characteristics of a large-scale estuary. Interdisciplinary, concise and cohesive, it is applicable as a model for worldwide estuary study. From the contents: Mathematical Modeling of Tides in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Fronts and Mesoscale Features in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Nearshore Sediment Dynamics in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Organic Geochemical Studies in the St. Lawrence Estuary.

Inhalt

1. The St. Lawrence Estuary: Introduction.- Why this book ?.- Historical notes.- A large estuary.- of the volume.- 2. Mathematical Modelling of Tides in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Tidal characteristics of the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Barotropic models.- Baroclinic models.- Conclusions.- 3. Meteorologically and Buoyancy Induced Subtidal Salinity and Velocity Variations in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Field observation and data analysis.- The meteorological and buoyancy forcing.- The meteorologically induced variations.- The buoyancy induced variations.- Summary and conclusions.- 4. Fronts and Mesoscale Features in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Upper Estuary.- Lower Estuary.- The Gaspe Current.- Conclusions.- 5. Topographic Waves and Topographically Induced Motions in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Internal waves.- Internal tides and upwelling.- Vorticity waves.- Conclusions.- 6. Recent Sediments and Sediment Transport Processes in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Physiography.- Late glacial and Holocene history.- Quaternary stratigraphy.- Distribution of surficial sediments.- Suspended sediment dynamics and composition.- Sediment mass balance.- Summary and conclusions.- 7. Nearshore Sediment Dynamics in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- General setting.- Mechanisms of nearshore sediment dynamics.- Long term trends: erosional and accretional shorelines.- Summary and conclusions.- 8. Reactivity and transport of nutrients and metals in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Nutrients.- Trace metals.- Metal transport.- Comparison to other estuaries.- 9. Organic Geochemical Studies in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Annual cycles of organic matter.- Stable isotope ratios.- Molecular tracers.- Summary.- 10. Sediment-Water Interaction and Early Diagenesis in the Laurentian Trough.- Diagenesis in the Laurentian Trough.- Manganese, a case study in diagenesis.- Considerations for future research.- 11. Chemical Contaminants in the St. Lawrence Estuary and Saguenay Fjord.- Metals.- Organics.- Conclusions.- 12. Oceanography and Ecology of Phytoplankton in the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Environmental control of phytoplankton biomass and production.- Regional divisions of the St. Lawrence Estuary.- 13. Zooplankton of the St. Lawrence Estuary: The Imprint of Physical Processes on its Composition and Distribution.- Results and discussion.- 14. Ichthyoplankton Communities in the St. Lawrence Estuary: Composition and Dynamics.- Physical zonation of the estuary.- Species composition.- Spatial distribution.- Temporal variability.- Conclusions.- 15. The Macrobenthic Fauna of the St. Lawrence Estuary.- The intertidal zone.- The Infralittoral zone.- The circalittoral and bathyal zones.- Concluding remarks.- 16. Marine Fisheries Resources and Oceanography of the St. Lawrence Estuary.- The commercial fisheries.- Importance of the St. Lawrence Estuary on fisheries fluctuations downstream.- 17. The Saguenay Fiord: A Major Tributary to the St. Lawrence Estuary.- Watermass sources and circulation.- Impact of power dams.- Sedimentary processes.- Pollution history and impacts.- Biological considerations.- Summary.- 18. The St. Lawrence Estuary: Concluding Remarks.- For the St. Lawrence Estuary, large-scale means variety.- Future considerations.- List of Contributors.