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The Regional Ocean Model System (ROMS) was used to simulate flow and hydrographic (temperature, salinity) patterns in a shallow, relatively flat-bottomed estuary with two subestuaries, one with an elongated shape and the other with a roughly circular shape. Simulations were used to elucidate the wind stress effect on a tidally formed cyclonic gyre in Galveston Bay, Texas (USA). The form factor suggests that Galveston Bay is a mixed, mainly diurnal system with tides that propagate out of phase by less than 1 h from side to side of the estuary. Temperature and salinity patterns suggest that the influence of the estuary extends oceanward, up to a distance commensurate with the 14 m depth isobath (∼10 km offshore), during a diurnal tidal cycle. A tidally generated cyclonic gyre was observed to form in the circular subestuary, suggesting that this region may be more productive than others. This tidally formed gyre …