Understanding the flow dynamics of a tidally disturbed plume
Aquifer pollution in heavy metals is frequent in industrialised port areas and it is very complex to understand the behaviour of polluted plumes, specifically with the effect of tides.
With a direct flux measurement, it is much easier.
Flux measurements could be carried out during several tidal cycles in order to understand the flux dynamics of the slick.
These measurements were combined with the concentrations of the various metals present in the aquifer and it was thus possible to identify the main discharge areas for the pollutants and to quantify them.
It was found that more than 85% of the heavy metal pollution came from a specific area of the site, which made it possible to optimize the remediation of the site and significantly reduce its costs.
This study was the subject of a scientific publication:
