Bikini and nearby atolls, Marshall Islands; oceanography (physical) : Adjustment of Bikini atoll to ocean waves

Citations Over Time

Abstract

Four and one-half months early in 1946 were spent in the field at Bikini and Rongelap Atolls to study the circulation systems within the lagoons. Later, in the laboratory, synoptic studies were made of kinimatically similar models based on early field data. The results of these studies were then tested against further observations made in the field. It was found that both lagoons exhibited a primary circulation (overturning winddriven circulation) and a secondary circulation (rotary circulation composed of two counter-rotating compartments). The direction of the primary circulation and the division between the counter-rotating compartments of the secondary circulation were always contained in a vertical plane having roughly the azimuth of the prevailing wind. The vigor of both circulations varied with the average wind strength taken over the previous 24 hours. Perturbations of the primary and secondary modes of circulation were produced by tides and waves and by the North Equatorial Current, which surrounds the atolls of the northern Marshall Islands group. Seasonal changes also were noted: the circulation of the winter months, when the northeast trade winds prevail, showed a marked stability and strength which was lacking in the summer season, when the atolls are on the edge of the belt of doldrums.

Related Papers

• → Coral islands defy sea-level rise over the past century: Records from a central Pacific atoll(2015)124 cited
• → Late Holocene sea levels and coral reef development in Vahitahi Atoll, eastern Tuamotu Islands, Pacific Ocean(1987)31 cited
• → Sea Level Induced Slope and Atoll Lagoon Sea Floor Morphologies around Malé Island and Goidhoo Atoll (Republic of Maldives)(2012)1 cited
• → Guyot and Atoll(2014)1 cited
• Oceanographic variability at Clipperton Atoll since the 1880s: stable isotopic evidence from massive corals [abstract](1996)