Coastal Eutrophication and Marine Benthic Vegetation
Lido entrance
Malamocco entrance
Adriatic Sea
Chioggia entrance
Venice Lagoon
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Fig. 3.3. Venice Lagoon.
Map with horizontal boundaries of model segments.
The Venice Lagoon is a shallow marine embayment, a large part of the
lagoon has a depth of less than 0.5 m. The mean tidal amplitude is about
35 cm (Fig. 3.3).
The lagoon is connected to the Adriatic Sea by three entrances. The
average effective flushing time of the lagoon by tidal exchange is
approximately 10 days. (E. Runca, 1. Postma, pers. comm). However,
large differences exist between different parts of the lagoon. The central
part around the city of Venice, bordered by the Malamocco- Marghera
Canal in the west and the south and by the tidal lands extending from
the airport to the island of Burano in the north, has a water residence
time in the order of days. The residence times of the inner regions are
much longer, in the order of months.
The freshwater input due to land run-off causes horizontal salinity
gradients, from 22-26 PSU in the vicinity of the freshwater discharges
to 31-34 PSU at the entrances to the Adriatic Sea. The lagoon receives