Abstract
The Bahamas or Lucayan Archipelago located in the western North Atlantic Ocean is highly susceptible to impact of hurricanes considering its location along the major pathways of Atlantic hurricanes and increased storminess in the Atlantic basin. The hydrodynamics of the narrow and steep carbonate continental shelf of Bahamas archipelago provides a stark contrast to the east coast of the United States by means of distinct interaction of shelves with hurricane induced waves, storm tide and currents. The present study implements a coupled ADCIRC-SWAN model to investigate the surge and wave dynamics along the coasts of Bahamas archipelago during Hurricane Joaquin, using multiple reanalyzed wind products. The analysis is focused on the hydrodynamic response of the archipelago considering its varying coastal bathymetry, slope and arching coastlines. Model computed a maximum significant wave height of 15 m, storm surge 1.5 m and coastal currents of 4 m/s during Hurricane Joaquin. Moreover, validation study also shows very good agreement with the buoy observations from the region. Spatio-temporal variability of storm tide and waves along with nonlinear impacts of wave setup and setdown highlights the dominance of waves with moderate influence of storm tides along the coastal zone of the island chain. The study also evaluated interaction of coastal currents with the arching coastlines of the Bahamas. In addition, wave parameters attributed to the sinking of the cargo ship El-Faro during the Hurricane Joaquin have been examined. Significant wave heights exceeding 12.5 m with wave period of 12.5 s and the reversing wave direction during Hurricane Joaquin might have resulted in the capsize of the cargo ship.
