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Science 13 November 1992:
Vol. 258. no. 5085, pp. 1107 - 1111
DOI: 10.1126/science.258.5085.1107
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Articles

Chaotic Stirring in a Tidal System

H. Ridderinkhof 1 and J. T. F. Zimmerman 2

1 Netherlands Institute of Sea Research, Post Office Box 59, 1790 AB Texel, the Netherlands
2 Netherlands Institute of Sea Research and the Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Research, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands

An analysis of a two-dimensional tidal model of the Wadden Sea reveals Lagrangian chaos in the trajectories of water parcels. The associated chaotic stirring results from the transverse intersection of the stable and unstable curves of hyperbolic fixed points in the Lagrangian residual displacement field (the tidal Poincaré map). This tidal dispersion mechanism produces rapid water exchange along the channel axis and could be representative of many shallow tidal seas.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)