Hydrography and water budget of Obhur creek, Red Sea

الملخص EN

Obhur cre ek is located on the ea stern side of the Red Sea , 3S km north of Jeddah.

The hydrographic characteristics of the mean water circul ation pattern and the possibilit y of flushing of the cre ek into the Red Sea a re Investigated based on the collected dat a during the year 1990.

Th e hydrographic structure showed eviden ce of thr ee water masses at the entrance of the creek: a surface water mass characterized by high temperatur e and salinity ; intermediate wat er mass distinguished by minimum salinity with core at 10-20 m depth and a bottom wat er mass that reaches maximum salinity.

Thi s structure yields a two-layer flow at the e ntrance; inflow of low salinity water at both surface and intermediate depths and outflow of salter water at the bottom.

Based on the water budget .

the flushing time of the creek varied betw een one and four day s during the peri od of investigation .

The creek waters were found to be near sa turation with dissolved oxygen and almost transparent, reflecting its oligotrophication.