Contaminant transport in the surf zone

Abstract

Dispersion of dissolved contaminants introduced at various locations within and just outside the surf zone are investigated. It is shown that the Longuet-Higgins model of surf-zone hydrodynamics adequately describes the distribution of longshore currents measured at the laboratory scale. Relations are derived between the longitudinal and transverse dispersion coefficients and the influencing parameters. The maximum longitudinal dispersion coefficients are associated with tracer releases near the breaker line, and longitudinal dispersion coefficients generally increase with travel time for distances up to at least 10 surf-zone widths. In contrast, transverse dispersion coefficients remain relatively constant for increasing travel time. The longitudinal and transverse dispersion coefficients can be significantly influenced by assumed values of local turbulent diffusion and cross-shore shear dispersion.