Articles | Volume 13, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-13-1061-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-13-1061-2017
Research article
 | 
18 Dec 2017
Research article |  | 18 Dec 2017

Internal hydraulic control in the Little Belt, Denmark – observations of flow configurations and water mass formation

Morten Holtegaard Nielsen, Torben Vang, and Lars Chresten Lund-Hansen

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Cited articles

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Short summary
Using field observations we studied the effects that the narrow contraction in the Little Belt, one of the three straits connecting the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, has on currents and water masses. We found the existence of internal hydraulic control, a phenomenon well-known from theoretical and laboratory studies, but surprisingly rarely observed in nature. This phenomenon plays an enormous role due to intense mixing between the water masses, which may drive a highly productive ecosystem.