Citation:

Hantush, M. AND L. Kalin. Modeling Nitrogen Fate and Transport at the Sediment-Water Interface. Chapter 8, S. K. Basu and Naveen Kumar (ed.), Modelling and Simulation of Diffusive Processes – Methods and Applications, ISBN: 9783319056579. Springer, New York, NY, , 161-185, (2014).

Impact/Purpose:

The book chapter describes models developed by the authors and their applications to fate and transport of nitrogen at media interfaces. This problem is relevant to nitrogen cycling in eutrophic water bodies and in wetlands.

Description:

Diffusive mass transfer at media interfaces exerts control on the fate and transport of pollutants originating from agricultural and urban landscapes and affects the con-ditions of water bodies. Diffusion is essentially a physical process affecting the distribution and fate of various environmental pollutants such as nutrients, pesticides, metals, PCBs, PAHs, etc. Environmental problems caused by excessive use of agricultural chemicals (e.g., pesticides and fertilizers) and improper discharge of industrial waste and fuel leaks are all influenced by the diffusive nature of pollutants in the environment. Eutrophication is one such environmental problem where the sediment-water interface exerts a significant physical and geochemical control on the eutrophic condition of the stressed water body. Exposure of streams and lakes to contaminated sediment is another common environmental problem whereby transport of the contaminant (PCBs, PAHs, and other organic contaminants) across the sediment water can increase the risk for exposure to the chemicals and pose a significant health hazard to aquatic life and human beings. This chapter presents analytical and numerical models describing fate and transport phenomena at the sediment-water interface in freshwater ecosystems, with the primary focus on nitrogen cycling and the applicability of the models to real-world environmental problems and challenges faced in their applications. The first model deals with nitrogen cycling at the bottom of lakes, a problem that is relevant to the eutrophication of water bodies. The second model addresses nitrogen dynamics in flooded wetlands. For a thorough treatment of analytical solutions for various diffusion problems, interested readers may refer to Choy and Reible (2000).

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