Kapolnai, A., F.E. Werner and J.O. Blanton. 1996. Circulation, mixing and exchange processes in the vicinity of tidal inlets: a numerical study. J. Geophys. Res. 101:14,253-14,268.
     
         
         The circulation in the vicinity of an idealized tidal inlet connecting
    a continental shelf and a coastal sound is examined.  The circulation is
    forced by an M2 tide and a weakly buoyant discharge.  The buoyant discharge
    forms a plume in the coastal ocean and induces a distinct anticyclonic
    circulation at the plume edge that is maintained throughout the tidal cycle. 
    We focus on the plume's onset and its evolution over 5-10 cycles.  Over the
    timescales considered, the plume was roughly circular, slightly skewed in
    the along-coast direction.  The model solution yielded high vertical Ekman
    numbers, E sub v ~ O (5) in the vicinity of the inlet mouth, decreasing
    seaward from the inlet to an order of magnitude smaller (E ~ 0.25) at the
    seaward edge of the plume.  Passive particles released in the region seaward
    of the inlet mouth, were used to describe the exchange between the coastal
    region and the inlet.  A marked asymmetry between ebb and flood flows is
    observed in the vicinity of the inlet, with jet-like ebbing currents and
    weaker potential-flow-like folding currents.  Over a tidal cycle, net
    exchanges between the coastal ocean and the inlet are found to be spatially
    and temporally dependent; tha is, particle trajectories depend on the
    release point and the time of the release in the tidal cycle.  The near-
    inlet residual circulation shows significant differences in the absence of
    stratification.