Effects of nonlocal turbulence on the mass transfer of dissolved species to reef corals

Abstract

We examined the importance of nonlocal turbulence to the mass transfer of dissolved species from both cylinders and models of reef coral. Solid gypsum cylinders and gypsum‐coated model coral were dissolved in an outdoor flume at mean flow speeds of 4.5 and 10 cm s −1 . Three model corals were used: two branched forms of the genera Acropora and Pocillopora , and one lobate form of the genus Platygyra . Turbulence intensities (Tu) were measured as the ratio of the standard deviation of the time‐variant flow to the mean. Tu of between 5% and 55% were created independently of the mean flow by pumping water through two vertical arrays of jets. Mass transfer coefficients increased by 10‐70% with turbulence intensity for all forms at both mean flow speeds considered ( p

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