CCPO Lecturer to Discuss Keys to Water Quality in Lower James River

February 08, 2012

At the mouth of the James River, patterns of circulation and persistent exchanges of water between the river and the Chesapeake Bay can create conditions highly suitable for oyster beds. Just how these water transport systems work, and what may happen to them as sea levels rise will be the topic of a public lecture Monday, Feb. 13, at Old Dominion University's Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography.

Jian Shen, a research associate professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, will make the presentation beginning at 3:30 p.m. in Room 3200 of the Innovation Research Park Building 1. The lecture and a reception, which begins at 3 p.m., are free and open to the public.

The title of Shen's lecture is "Studies of Transport Processes and Change of Salinity Due to Sea Level Rise in the James River Estuary."

Among the tributary estuaries of the Chesapeake Bay, the lower James River has patterns of circulation that make it least likely to develop the hypoxic (oxygen deprived) conditions that can limit the populations of oysters and other sea creatures. Shen will discuss numerical model studies of circulation, transport processes and exchanges in the lower James River.