Author(s): Yuanyi Li, Huan Feng, Dekui Yuan, Lei Guo, Jianhua Tao
Linked Author(s): Dekui Yuan
Keywords: Trace metal, sediment, residual flow, numerical model, model validation
Abstract: Water circulation is one of the important driving forces in controlling the transport processes in the ocean. Trace metals originating from land sources and entering the ocean are controlled by multiple processes including water circulation in the ocean. Driven by hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics, the transport of trace metals associated with sediments often has longer temporal scales than the water flow. Considering this fact, we should realize that distributions of the trace metals on the sea bed record the information of long-term circulation. The region around the Bohai Bay is one of the key area of economic development in China, where trace metals such as Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn are discharged into the Bohai Bay through the outlets of waste water. In this study, water circulation and transport of the trace metals in the Bohai Bay were numerically simulated and the results of the hydrodynamic model and particle tracking model were validated by the distributions of trace metals in the sediments, with the several important characteristics of the distributions of trace metals and sediments being well accounted by the results of the numerical model. It means that the numerical model used in this research can well be used to study the water circulation and processes of transport in the Bohai Bay
Year: 2017