Residence times of Manukau Harbour,New Zealand

Residence times of the three main channel systems of Manukau Harbour were calculated by methods based on the salinity measured in 10 tidal excursion segments: the freshwater replacement technique and a volume exchange model. The amount of freshwater present in the segments at high water was low (< 11% throughout the year), so salinities were high, with minimum values (winter) in each segment being in the range 30.1–34.0 (compared with a median value of 34.5 in the nearby coastal waters). The proportion of each segments’ volume which was exchanged with an adjacent segment during a tidal cycle varied markedly across the harbour, from ≤ 5 % in several shallow inner harbour segments to 65% in a deep segment adjacent to the entrance channel. For annual average conditions the freshwater replacement times of the channels were 11–18 days. Slightly longer residence times—12–26 days—were obtained from the volume exchange model. Calculated replacement times for two non‐conservative tracers— inorganic phosphorus and nitrogen—were approximately half those for freshwater, as 5–12% of these species disappeared from the water column each day.