A Three-dimensional Model of Deep Water Renewal and its Influence on Residual Currents in the Central Strait of Georgia, Canada

Deep water renewal in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia, Canada, has been modelled. Renewal occurs in the model, during summer, once a month. The phase and amplitude of renewal events compare well with those observed in the Central Strait of Georgia. A deep water renewal event starts at extreme neap tides, the time of minimal mixing, when maximum stratification is reached at Boundary Passage and the denser waters of Juan de Fuca Strait penetrate past the sill at Boundary Passage and reach the bottom of the deep basin in hte Central Strait of Georgia as a gravity current.