Transport Through the Contraction Area in the Little Belt

The Great Belt, the Øresund and the Little Belt connect the central Baltic Sea and the Kattegat. A fixed station was moored in the contraction area in the Little Belt during the period 18–28 July 1995, measuring temperature, salinity and current in two levels, while discharge was measured by the RVDana. The composite Froude number calculated at the fixed station shows that the two layer flow through this area was most often supercritical. The discharges were satisfactorily related to the currents measured at the fixed station, and time-series of transports through the Little Belt were established. When compared to the transports through the Øresund the water transport ratio (Øresund:Little Belt) was found to be 4·4, while the salt transport ratio was found to be 3·0. The resistance of the Little Belt, when considering the differences in sea level from Gedser to Hornbæk, was 1839×10⁻¹² s² m⁻⁵. On the basis of water level and surface salinity measurements made during the period 1931–76, a net discharge of 2300 m³ s⁻¹and a net salt transport of 36 tonnes s⁻¹through the Little Belt from the central Baltic Sea were found.