Studies on water movements and sediments in Southern Lake Michigan : part 1[-3] ... / by John C. Ayers.

solutes to the basin have been computed.
For each of the solutes considered, the accumulation-time
has been computed by
Pounds of solute in basin water
Pounds of solute contributed by rivers yearly - Accumulation time
The accumulation times available to be compared to the computed flushing times are:
Chloride 29 years
Sulfate 38 years
Phosphorus 6 years
If these are treated as first approximations, as were the
flushing times, we may take the mean of the maximum and minimum
values as a mean first approximation to compare with the mean
first approximation flushing time.
Mean 1st approx. flushing time 26 years
Mean 1st approx. accumulation time 22 years
The agreement is good, though both types of results need to
be refined by further repetitions.
As an initial working hypothesis we must consider Lake
Michigan's southern basin to be flushed out only four times per
century.