Hurricanes Ingrid and Manuel (2013) and their impact on the salinity of the Meteoric Water Mass, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Abstract We report on measurements of the salinity and temperature in the Yax Chen cave system on the Yuacatan peninsula. This paper is submitted together with Kovacs et al. (2017). Kovacs et al. focuses on the salinity levels of the meteoric lens, while this paper uses the observed results to elucidate the hydrodynamics. The cave passages have water depths on the order of 10 m, with flow on the order of ten centimeters a second, and as such is a hydrodynamic, as opposed to a porous, system. The measurements reveal that episodes of significant mixing between the fresh meteoric lens and the underlying salty water are driven by meteorological events (e.g., Hurricane Rina in 2011, and the twin Hurricanes Ingrid and Manuel in 2013). We find evidence that after the hurricanes in 2013, the water column remains unstable for several months. Through wavelet analysis, we find that the marine Water Mass (WM) exhibits much less low period activity compared to the meteoric WM. We hypothesize that the open cenotes are locations of high mixing intensity, with turbulent fronts propagating away from the sites of direct mixing into the cave network. We perform laboratory experiments and numerical simulations to explore this phenomenon, and find that mixing preferentially occurs on the flanks of regions of strong, stable density stratification (i.e., on the periphery of pycnoclines), and leads to entrainment of fluid into the turbulent region. Using high resolution direct numerical simulation, we explore the detailed manner in which turbulent entrainment can drive flow toward the mixing region, and lead to mixing of passive tracers. Finally, we discuss the implications of these results for the mixing of passive tracers, such as suspended chemicals.