Effect of solar and surface boundry on contaminant diffusion in the ocean

Abstract

The dispersion of neutrally bouyant contaminants from a point source in the ocean is investigated through new solutions to the convective-diffusion equation. Particular attention is given to a detailed specification of the convective terms in the equation. A three-dimensional, linearly sheared current is considered. An exact solution for the concentration distribution is obtained for the case of an ocean of infinite depth. Model predictions are shown to be self-consistent and reproduce the characteristics of tracer patch elongation and rotation, which have been experimentally observed. The considerably more difficult, and hitherto unsolved, case of a sheared current in shallow water is solved by using the regular perturbation method with vertical shear as the small parameter. Field observations taken in coastal waters agree qualitatively with the predicted distributions.