The essential features of these seasonal cycles have been investigated with models. Sediment oxygen uptake was measured as 32-36 mmoles per square metre per day. Repeat transects in March 1995, at the season when deep renewal by cross-sill exchange has been evident, found a net inflow in the east and a net outflow from the western side of the Clyde Sea. Freshening in the plume was strongly correlated with run-off. 3D modelling for tides and an average seasonal cycle of heating, rainfall, river inflows and winds has shown an anti-clockwise circulation in winter, as known to occur under northerly winds.
Southerly winds give flow into the Bay in the middle of the entrance.
Calculations with no riverine inputs show reduced circulation and increased flushing times, which are also strongly affected by winds. The Po discharges a large quantity of freshwater seasonally into the northern end of the Adriatic, typically with a maximum in river material fluxes in late spring or early autumn. The ROFI extends variably eastwards across the northern Adriatic, especially in summer, and south-eastwards along the Italian coast, especially in winter. A reference run, forced only by a Po discharge 1000 cubic metres per second, showed the outflow spreading along the Italian coast to the north and south. With 5000 cubic metres per second discharge, the outflow extended nearly twice as far in every direction.