Water 2018, 10(5), 572; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10050572
Numerical Modeling of Long-Term Biogeochemical Processes and Its Application to Sedimentary Bed Formation in Tokyo Bay
Department of Socio-Cultural Environmental Studies, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8563, Japan
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Received: 26 March 2018 / Revised: 19 April 2018 / Accepted: 24 April 2018 / Published: 27 April 2018
(This article belongs to the Section Water Quality and Ecosystems)
Abstract
Even though models of water quality have become increasingly detailed over time, their applicability to analyze long-term effect on sedimentary bed formation is yet to be clarified. Hence, an integrated, layer-resolved, process-based, sediment–water coupled, long-term robust, three-dimensional (3D) ecosystem model, including realistic sedimentary and pelagic processes, was developed. The constituents of the integrated model included a multi layered ecosystem model, a quasi-three dimensional hydrodynamic model, a wave hindcasting model, and a sediment deposition and erosion model. Because numerical modeling difficulties arise in setting the initial conditions, especially for a sedimentary bed, this novel modeling approach suggests to initiate the model with the simplest initial conditions of no particulate organic carbon content (POCC) and uniform inorganic sediment distribution. The model was applied to Tokyo Bay and quasi-steady state POCC in the sediment was obtained through long-term computation with realistic sedimentary and pelagic processes. Wave induced bed shear stress (WBSS) is critical for sediment erosion and spatial movement of sediment pollution, while a stable morphology is determined by the balance between the current induced bed shear stress (CBSS) and WBSS in Tokyo Bay. This novel modeling approach, with the simplest sedimentary initial conditions and realistic sedimentary and pelagic processes, provides a great tool for long-term ecosystem modeling in future studies. View Full-TextKeywords:
hypoxia and anoxia; eutrophication; particulate organic carbon; multi-layer bed model; wave and current induced bed shear stresses
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MDPI and ACS Style
Amunugama, M.; Sasaki, J. Numerical Modeling of Long-Term Biogeochemical Processes and Its Application to Sedimentary Bed Formation in Tokyo Bay. Water 2018, 10, 572.
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