Seasonal salinty variations in Cleveland Bay, northern Queensland

Abstract

Weekly salinity measurements have been collected over 34 months at a 10 m deep station in Cleveland Bay. Minimum salinity during the summer wet season varied considerably from year to year and was mainly dependent on the discharge of small local rivers and the Burdekin River to the south-east. During the dry months, evaporative concentration generated a gradient of decreasing salinity from the shore across the continental shelf.