Abstract
Abstract The intrusion of seawater in a tidal river is treated as a diffusion problem, characterized by a coefficient of longitudinal diffusivity. In order to analyse the longitudinal diffusivity, a mathematical model is set up, consisting of two bodies of water, either one besides the other or one on top of the other. The two bodies are assumed to move relatively to each other, as a secondary effect of the tidal flow. It is moreover assumed that there is turbulent exchange of salt between the bodies. It is demonstrated that the diffusion of salt into the river is greatest for an optimum value of the coefficient of exchange between the two bodies. Exchange weaker or stronger than this optimum both diminish the salt intrusion. The theory is applied to the Rotterdam Waterway, for which estimates of the exchange are made. Estimation of the reduction of the turbulence by stratification and hence of the vertical exchange, shows that the observed strong intrusion is explainable. Intensified vertical mixing, for instance as provoked by compressed air, need not always result in less intrusion, and hence should be considered carefully.
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