Cross-Channel Transport in the Upper Delaware Estuary: Numerical Experiments for Contamination Vulnerability Assessment

This study employs a model to examine, through numerical experiments, the potential for material transport across the channel of the upper, non-saline tidal Delaware River in the vicinity of the City of Philadelphia. The goal is to explore possible dynamics of tidally-driven transverse transport, and the potential implications for two drinking water intakes of pollutant sources such as the discharge of a local stream. The model formulation includes astronomical tides and river inflows driving the depth-integrated shallow water equations that include energy losses to bottom friction, and Reynolds stresses and fluxes represented with a Smagorinsky turbulence model. Cross-river transport is explored by performing a tracer simulation. Model simulation results support the potential for solute transport across the channel of the upper tidal-Delaware River solely as a result of tidal interaction with local bathymetry.