contributing factors. Due to the orientation and configuration of 

 Long Island Sound, maximum effects would occur during storm events 

 with winds dominated by easterly or westerly components. 



The observed response of the sediment-water interface to 

 energies associated with the passage of Hurricane Gloria supported 

 the findings from the bathymetry and REMOTS® surveys at the CLIS 

 site as well as the earlier findings that the hurricane effects at 

 water depths greater than 25 m were negligible. It also provided 

 additional data to support the hypothesis that, within the eastern 

 Sound, a near-equilibrium prevails between the transport competence 

 of the ambient tidal stream and the erodibility of the surface of 

 the sediment column. Although some amount of ^ alternate 

 resuspension and deposition occurs during each half tidal cycle, 

 major sediment displacements sufficient to measurably disturb the 

 sediment-water interface require a significant supplement to the 

 energies associated with ambient tidal flows. Such energies could 

 be supplied by perturbations sufficient to alter the local tidal 

 regime and/or to generate significant surface waves. The passage 

 of Hurricane Gloria resulted in both effects. However, the 

 short-lived nature of this storm resulted in a temporal separation 

 between these two effects such that a significant disturbance was 

 not produced at the sediment-water interface. 



The observed variations in the near-bottom water 

 temperature pattern appear to be primarily the result of a 

 perturbation in the local tidal regime produced by storm passage 

 rather than simple storm-associated mixing of the water column. 

 Average air temperature on 27 September, the day of storm passage, 

 was essentially similar to that observed on the days both before 

 and after the storm (Table 3-5) . If mixing were dominant, then the 

 spatial scale of the storm should have resulted in a near 

 homogeneity in water temperatures throughout the Sound and over 

 much of the adjacent continental shelf. Under such conditions, the 

 range of water temperatures observed following storm passage should 

 have been suppressed relative to those existing before the storm. 

 As noted above, water temperature patterns after 0600 EDST on 29 

 September were essentially similar to those observed prior to the 

 storm. Thus, despite the obvious presence of an extremely 

 energetic wind field and associated surface waves, the temperature 

 perturbations appeared to be primarily associated with the 

 storm-induced variations in the tidal system or storm surge rather 

 than simple response to increased vertical mixing of the water 

 column. 



As in the case of the water temperature field, the 

 variations in near-bottom salinity associated with the passage of 

 Hurricane Gloria also appeared to be primarily the result of storm- 

 related perturbations in the tidal field rather than simple mixing 

 of the vertical water column. Beyond 29 September, the variations 

 in salinity appeared similar in magnitude to those observed during 



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