The Merrimack River Mixing and Divergence Experiments (MeRMADE)

How does river water ultimately mix into the sea and become ocean water? To answer that question, a team of researchers led by Daniel MacDonald (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth), Robert Hetland (Texas A&M), and Alexander Horner-Devine (University of Washington) have combined efforts to conduct a series of experiments focusing on the Merrimack River plume, off the north shore of Massachusetts. These experiments, known as the Merrimack River Mixing and Divergence Experiments (MeRMADE) will broaden our scientific understanding of the physical transformations that are undergone by fresh river discharge as it enters the coastal ocean. These results are essential for developing effective numerical coastal ocean models, and provide a context for understanding related biological, chemical, and geological processes in the coastal zone.

In the figure to the right PI’s MacDonald and Hetland discuss sampling strategy in the Merrimack plume during MeRMADE I.