Open AccessCirculation and Mixing Processes in the Liverpool Bay Area of the Irish Sea
Author(s) -
Bowden K. F.,
Din S. H. Sharaf El
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
geophysical journal of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.302
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1365-246X
pISSN - 0016-8009
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-246x.1966.tb03084.x
Subject(s) - geology , bay , oceanography , current (fluid) , mixing (physics) , salinity , flow (mathematics) , irish sea , estuary , circulation (fluid dynamics) , eddy diffusion , diffusion , turbulence , climatology , meteorology , geography , mechanics , physics , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics
Summary Observations of currents and salinity in Liverpool Bay have shown that an estuarine‐type circulation, with a net seaward flow in the upper layer and a landward flow near the bottom, extends to a distance of at least 12 miles from the mouth of the River Mersey. The data have been analysed in terms of the dynamics of the flow and the turbulent mixing processes. A mean vertical gradient of salinity is present which, although comparatively small, is sufficient to cause a considerable reduction in the coefficient of eddy diffusion in the vertical direction, with a corresponding increase in the effective coefficient of horizontal diffusion. Taken in conjunction with other current data in the Irish Sea, the observations give an indication of a coastal current flowing southwards along the coast of north‐west England and then westwards along the north coast of Wales.