English abstract
Coastal currents studies in Oman Sea are sparse. Temporal pattern of currents along the Al Batinah coast has not been identified from in situ measurements. A coastal current parallel to the
shoreline was proposed by Johns et.al (1999). This study examines the coastal current along the Al Batinah coast of Oman sea using Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) in four near-shore
stations and one offshore station to identify temporal patterns and to link it to the driving forces.
Reversing current pattern was identified with predominant major axis direction running along the
coast. Prevailing north-west depth-averaged flow was linked to the alignment of the consistent
south easterly wind direction during summer stratification season. After the stratification season,
shorter reversing pulses in the longshore component took place at all stations. Flow in the lower
layers decoupled from the upper layer in the near-shore stations with northwest flow and southeast
flow for upper and lower layers, respectively. Positive significant currents' correlation was found
between sites, except with the most eastern station, i.e. A'Sawadi. Wind was higher during
stratification season and its effect diminishes within 6-7 meters of seabed. During mixing
conditions, the wind effect extends down in the water column, yet, correlation with current was
weaker. Wind-current coherence was frequent in the scale of 2.5 to 5 days at all stations.
Geostrophic flow had limited events of strong coherence current with periods from 1 to 6 days at
A'Sawadi and Shinas. Other stations had coherence events in the scale of 1 to 4 days during mixing
conditions that tend to increase in duration around summer stratification. The findings of this study
provide basic background information on coastal currents in Al-Batinah that is essential for coastal
applications like coastal engineering, coastal fisheries studies, coastal ecology, pollution dispersal,
effects of thermal and brine dispersal in marine environment and longshore sediment transport.
