North West Shelf Joint Environmental Management Study:InVitro Inputs - Water circulation and particle transport

The model used to compute the currents on the North West Shelf was developed within CSIRO Marine Research and is referred to as MECO (Model for Estuaries and Coastal Oceans). It is a general-purpose finite difference hydrodynamic model applicable to scales ranging from estuaries to ocean basins. It has found previous applications in systems such as the Derwent and Huon Estuaries in Tasmania, Gippsland Lakes, Port Phillip Bay (Walker 1999), Bass Strait, the Great Australian Bight and South-eastern Australia (Bruce et al. 2001), and the Gulf of Carpentaria (Condie et al. 1999). A full description of the circulation model as applied to North West Shelf and descriptions of the spatial and temporal characteristics of the circulation and connectivity can be found in Condie(2004).