Date of Award

8-28-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Coastal Marine and Wetland Studies

Department

Coastal and Marine Systems Science

College

College of Science

First Advisor

Diane Fribance

Second Advisor

Erin Hackett

Third Advisor

Louis Keiner

Abstract

River plumes transport terrigenous materials into the ocean, such as nutrients, pollutants, or sediment. These plumes can be separated into regions, including the source region, near-field, mid-field, and far-field, historically defined broadly by the governing forces in each region. Existing methods for classifying these plume regions are limited and often only take into account a subset of influencing factors. This study seeks to compare prior plume region classification methods, such as the Froude number and Rossby radius of deformation, to dominant dynamics within each region using momentum scaling proposed by Garvine (1995). Comparisons were derived from observational data collected during a shipboard survey aboard the R/V Savannah, sampling the Winyah Bay river plume from 22-24 May, 2024. Comparing the plume region classification methods across 23 different stations reveals that these methodologies do not consistently identify the same stations. Plume regions offer a convenient framework for describing plume evolution, if clearly delineated. Region boundaries are difficult to identify consistently and are strongly influenced by bathymetry, tides, ambient currents, rotation, wind, and mixing, all of which reshape plume structure. Relying on a single non-dimensional number to characterize a region could misrepresent the underlying dynamics. A framework such as the one proposed here that evaluates dominant forcing factors could allow for interdisciplinary studies to consider how non-conservative tracers such as nutrients, plankton or sediments vary with plume evolution, rather than relying on more simplified factors like salinity.

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