Determination of flushing characteristics of the Irish Sea: A spatial approach

The Authors devised a novel generic approach to assessing the flushing of the Irish Sea through the determination of spatially distributed residence times and the development of flushing homogeneity curves. Results indicate that flushing of the Irish Sea is both spatially and temporally highly variable. Average residence times of the material introduced in winter may be up to 28% higher than the material introduced in summer, and the aerial flushing deviation index may reach up to 470 day. The spatial approach to flushing is an extremely useful complement to classical flushing analysis considering significant implications for management of water quality.