This figure shows a model simulation of an idealized version of the Husdon River Estuary over several months. The fields are all tidally-averaged. The forcing is varied (a) as the river flow goes from low to high and back to low (gray line) while the amplitude of the tidal velocity goes through a Spring-Neap cycle. The three panels on the right show salinity sections down the channel axis at different times, incidated by the symbols. The estuary goes through a significant portion of its parameter space during this simulation, being partially-mixed (day 10), well-mixed (day 17), and approaching a salt wedge (day 57). The response of the tidally-averaged stratification (the bottom to top salinity difference, averaged over the channel length, normalized by oceanic salinity) is shown in (b). There are two curves here, the solid one showing the actual model response, and the dashed one showing a "quasi-steady" response in which the model is allowed to fully adjust to the instantaeous forcing at each time step. The stratification increases during high river flow, and during neap tide. In (c) the length of the tidally-averaged salt intrusion vs. time is plotted, again with full-model and quasi-steady curves. The salt intrusion decreases markedly when river flow is high.