Transport simulation of sorptive contaminants considering sediment-associated processes

Sediment-associated processes, such as sediment erosion, deposition, and pore water diffusion/advection affect sorptive contaminant transport. By considering these processes, we developed an equation to simulate contaminant transport. Erosion and deposition processes are considered as erosion and deposition fluxes of sediment, and adsorption-desorption processes of contaminants by sediment are simulated using the Langmuir Equation. Pore water diffusion is calculated based on the contaminant concentration gradient across the sediment-water interface. Pore water advection is estimated using pore water contained in the sediments of erosion flux. The equation is validated to simulate total phosphorus concentrations in Guanhe estuary in the northern Jiangsu, China. The simulated total phosphorus concentrations show better agreement with field observations compared to estimations that do consider sediment-associated processes.