Estimating the Volume and Salt Fluxes Through the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull

Abstract

The hydrodynamic transport characteristics of the Kill van Kull and the Arthur Kill, which connects the New York Bay to the Raritan Bay, have been investigated by using a three-dimensional, time dependent hydrodynamic model, ECOM. The objective of this study is to determine volume and salt transport through the Kill van Kull and the Arthur Kill and to obtain a basic understanding of the physical factors driving the salt transport through these important water bodies. The current model is an enhanced version of the original System Wide Eutrophication Model (Blumberg et al., 1999), which has been re-calibrated and re-validated in the New Jersey tributaries including the Hackensack, the Passaic and the Raritan Rivers. Volume and salt fluxes were determined by the decomposed correlation terms using the model computed salinity, temperature and currents. Results indicate that the net long-tem volume and salt flux is directed west through the Kill van Kull and south through the Arthur Kill. The peak water flux through the Arthur Kill is in excess of 400 m 3 s -1 . Stokes transport term contributed most towards upstream salt transport in Newark Bay and the Arthur Kill. In the Kill van Kull, the upstream salt transport is minimal. Salt flux through the Arthur Kill appears to be dominated by the elevation gradient between entrance to the Kill van Kull (from New York Harbor) and Perth Amboy. The salt flux through the Kill van Kull is influenced to a considerable extent (but not dominated) by the elevation gradient between the entrance to the Kill van Kull (from New York Harbor) and Shooters Island. The density gradient does not appear to be a predominant driving factor for the salt transport through the Kill van Kull and the Arthur Kill.