A physical study on tidal currents in Mond and Helleh rivers in the Persian Gulf

This research investigates distribution of physical properties in the estuaries of Helleh and Mond rivers. The study results and some important non-dimensional numbers showed that the estuaries of Helleh and Mond rivers are well-mixed or partially mixed in water column. So, the tidal currents have less role in mixing process relative to the rivers’ discharge .In fall season, the amount of mixing in these rivers’ estuaries show much more reduction and in spring season, the estuaries of these rivers are well mixed. The water flows in both estuaries are transitional which means not very turbulent and not very calm. The tidal currents in different seasons in the estuaries are calculated using available data in Bushehr coasts and turbulence energy equation for tidal mixing in the water column. The results show that the effect of tidal currents relative to density difference between river and sea is greater in Mond estuary than in the Helleh estuary. The average velocities of tidal currents were approximately determined 0.31 m/s and 0.35 m/s for Helleh and Mond rivers, respectively. The results indicated good consistency with the predicted values in other similar studies.