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Keywords: numerical modelling, Irish Sea, residence time, flushing, shelf seas, thermohaline circulation.

Summary

In this paper the three-dimensional general ocean and coastal circulation model is applied to the Irish Sea in order to determine water renewal time scales in the region. The model forcing functions comprised of tides, meteorological forcing, including wind stress and calculations of heat fluxes, river discharges and temperature fluxes at the open lateral boundaries. The calibrated barotropic and baroclinic model accurately reflects temperature fields and water circulation in the Irish Sea, including such important features as the Western Irish Sea Gyre, a cyclonic density-driven circulation developing in the western Irish Sea during spring and summer each year.

We carried out several simulations to investigate the importance of various forcing functions upon the flushing of the Irish Sea. The net flow through the Irish Sea is highly variable throughout the year due to the joint action of wind and density gradients; the net flow is northwards and the yearly average flow equals approximately 2.50 km³/d. The barotropic and baroclinic model predicted average residence times of the Irish Sea region of 386 and 444 days in the cases of passive tracer transport simulations commencing in June and December, respectively. We showed the slackening effects of baroclinic circulation on water renewal in the region, as the results obtained from the model forced only with tides indicate approximately 27% decrease in the predicted value of the average residence time. Interestingly, there is no substantial difference in the estimates of average residence times of surface layer and the entire water column. The results obtained indicate strong spatial and temporal variability in flushing rates indicating that a careful management approach is required.

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Front Page Browse CCP CSETS CTR IJRT Other Authors Search Purchase Guide FAQ Contact us	Civil-Comp Proceedings ISSN 1759-3433 CCP: 91 PROCEEDINGS OF THE TWELFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CIVIL, STRUCTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING COMPUTING Edited by: B.H.V. Topping, L.F. Costa Neves and R.C. Barros Paper 249 Investigations into Flushing of Pollutants in the Irish Sea T. Dabrowski and M. Hartnett Civil Engineering Department, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland doi:10.4203/ccp.91.249 purchase the full-text of this paper Full Bibliographic Reference for this paper T. Dabrowski, M. Hartnett, "Investigations into Flushing of Pollutants in the Irish Sea", in B.H.V. Topping, L.F. Costa Neves, R.C. Barros, (Editors), "Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computing", Civil-Comp Press, Stirlingshire, UK, Paper 249, 2009. doi:10.4203/ccp.91.249 Keywords: numerical modelling, Irish Sea, residence time, flushing, shelf seas, thermohaline circulation. Summary In this paper the three-dimensional general ocean and coastal circulation model is applied to the Irish Sea in order to determine water renewal time scales in the region. The model forcing functions comprised of tides, meteorological forcing, including wind stress and calculations of heat fluxes, river discharges and temperature fluxes at the open lateral boundaries. The calibrated barotropic and baroclinic model accurately reflects temperature fields and water circulation in the Irish Sea, including such important features as the Western Irish Sea Gyre, a cyclonic density-driven circulation developing in the western Irish Sea during spring and summer each year. We carried out several simulations to investigate the importance of various forcing functions upon the flushing of the Irish Sea. The net flow through the Irish Sea is highly variable throughout the year due to the joint action of wind and density gradients; the net flow is northwards and the yearly average flow equals approximately 2.50 km³/d. The barotropic and baroclinic model predicted average residence times of the Irish Sea region of 386 and 444 days in the cases of passive tracer transport simulations commencing in June and December, respectively. We showed the slackening effects of baroclinic circulation on water renewal in the region, as the results obtained from the model forced only with tides indicate approximately 27% decrease in the predicted value of the average residence time. Interestingly, there is no substantial difference in the estimates of average residence times of surface layer and the entire water column. The results obtained indicate strong spatial and temporal variability in flushing rates indicating that a careful management approach is required. purchase the full-text of this paper (price £20) go to the previous paper go to the next paper return to the table of contents return to the book description purchase this book (price £140 +P&P)
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