Abstract
The Vistula Estuary is a coastal water body boasting free connection with the open sea, where mixing processes of marine and fluvial waters are maintained by local conditions. Based on results from a hydrodynamic model, applied to represent conditions in the year 1994, and using salinity as a tracer, it was found that fluvial water has a tendency to spread westward from the river mouth. This is in contradiction with the dominant wind direction in the region. Model results confirmed field observations of specific hydrological and meteorological conditions required to transport fluvial water northward, towards the Hel Peninsula.