Modelling of the circulation, water exchange and water age properties of the Gulf of Bothnia

Abstract

To estimate the mean circulation, water exchange and water age in the Gulf of Bothnia a ten-year simulation using a three-dimensional numerical model was carried out. The results confirmed the early findings byWitting (1912) and Palm´en (1930) that a mean cyclonic circulation takes place both in the Bothnian Sea and in the Bothnian Bay. However, the modelling results showed clearly that there exist meso-scale circulation features including coastal ‘jets’, not reported in the Witting-Palm´en results. The simulated mean currents were also higher than those found earlier, while the persistency of this circulation is typically between 20 and 60%, which is similar to the earlier results. There is a large difference between the various model-based water-exchange estimates: these are strictly dependent on the time-averaging used. Water age proved to reflect properties of the mean circulation system, and the highest water age (of around 7.4 years) was found in the central part of the Bothnian Bay. The water age was found to be rather high also in the entire Gulf of Bothnia, which provides evidence of the rather slow water exchange between the Gulf and the Baltic Sea. This leads to the conclusion that, from the physical point of view, the Gulf of Bothnia is vulnerable to eutrophication