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The fate and
potential environmental impacts of discharged drilling wastes are being evaluated in
collaboration with the Marine Environmental Sciences Division. A new benthic
boundary layer transport (bblt) model for the dispersion of suspended material in the
benthic boundary layer has been developed, and is being applied to Georges and
Sable Island Banks. The model can be forced with either observational data or output
from the 3-d finite-element hydrodynamics model (currents, bottom stress).
For
a description of the local (spatially-uniform physical regime) version of the bblt model
and its applications to date, see Hannah et al.
(1995c,
1996a,
1998b),
Boudreau et al. (1999) and
Gorden et al. (2000). For examples of the
model predictions of near-bottom distributions for an initial localized mound of
material on the seafloor, see the Click-On Table below.
A spatially-variable
version of the bblt model, using current and stress fields from the 3-d finite-element
hydrodynamics model, is being developed.
Xu et al. (2000a). For example displays, see the Click-on Table below.
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Example bblt Outputs: |
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Sable Island Bank |
Georges Bank |
Local bblt: 3-d Model Forcing
(Late-Summer Mean + M2) |
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Concentration Distributions |
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Dispersion and Drift Rates |
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Local bblt: Observational Forcing |
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Summer Mean + Spring Tides |
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Summer Mean + Neap Tides |
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Spatially-Variable bblt: |
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Application Region & Grid |
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Particle Distributions |
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