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Simulation of the transport of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in the Scheldt estuary with the water quality model WASP4

Dutch title: Simulatie van het transport van polychloorbyfenylen (PCB) in het Schelde estuarium met het waterkwaliteitsmodel WASP4
Period: 1993 till 1993
Status: Completed

Thesaurus terms Hydrodynamics; Modelling; PCB; Pollution; Water quality
Geographical term: Belgium, Zeeschelde [Marine Regions]
 Institute 

Institute  Top 
  • Vrije Universiteit Brussel; Faculteit Toegepaste Wetenschappen; Vakgroep Hydrologie en Waterbouwkunde (HYDR), more

Abstract
The main processes that govern the behaviour of the industrial compounds Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) in the Scheldt estuary are reviewed. Apparently, tidal hydrodynamics, suspended sediment transport, and hydrophobic sorption regulate the distribution of PCBs within the estuary. The water quality model WASP is applied to simulate the present spatial distribution of twelve selected PCB isomers. The simulations are performed under average hydrodynamic and suspended sediment transport regimes. Calculated evolution profiles of the dissolved and sorbed concentrations in the water column indicate a high accumulation of the PCBs in the zone of the turbidity maximum. The simulated distributions of the sorbed PCBs, suspended sediment and salinity in the water column agree with the observations, but more measurements are needed in order to verify the predictability of the simulations.

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