Abstract
Source control i.e. the reduction of contamination from upstream or diffuse sources, is a critical element in any management plan for contaminated waterways. If source control measures are not successfully implemented, then a situation exists in which contamination will continue through time, and the cleanup of waterway segments becomes increasingly problematic. To provide greater understanding of the issues surrounding source control, it is essential to have some knowledge of contaminant sources and transport pathways of contaminated particulates. In port areas a plethora of factors interact to control contaminant transport pathways. These include: rain and river flow; tidal circulation, surface waves and wind drift, and temporally changing water column stratification. Particle tracking offers a practical means to map the transport pathways of contaminated sediments under these collective influences. This paper introduces a new and novel “dual signature” tracer product, and describes the particle tracking technique on a practical level through a study example in the Lower Duwamish Waterway, Washington, USA.
Highlights
The movement of energy and materials within the geosphere is a fundamental attribute of the Earth system
“Particle tracking”, or as it is sometimes referred to in the geological sciences “sediment tracing” or “sediment tracking”, offers a unique methodology with which to track the movement through space and time of environmental particulates
The aim of this paper is to introduce a new and novel “dual signature” tracer product and to present, from a largely practical standpoint, the set of processes involved in conducting a particle tracking study
Summary
The movement of energy and materials within the geosphere is a fundamental attribute of the Earth system. “Particle tracking”, or as it is sometimes referred to in the geological sciences “sediment tracing” or “sediment tracking”, offers a unique methodology with which to track the movement through space and time of environmental particulates Utilising this methodology, information can be garnered into source – sink relationships, the nature and location of the transport pathway(s) and the rate of transport. For present purposes we will use a recent study (tracking contaminated sediments in an industrialised waterway, the Lower Duwamish, Washington, USA) to illustrate the salient points. Whilst this specific Case Study was a suspended sediment transport problem, there is a set of steps and considerations common to all tracking studies regardless of the specific objective
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