Numerical Model of Pollution Dispersion in the Gour Soozan Estuary – Bandar Abbas, Iran

Pollution and the dispersion of pollutants are important issues in the environment of rivers and estuaries, being regarded as the major problems in utilizing the surface water globally. Environmentally speaking, the Gour Soozan Estuary suffers from a lot of problems. Arriving at a model for the dispersion of pollution and pollutant particles will therefore provide useful information for future studies in the field of environment and developmental activities in Bandar Abbas. Taking the available field data into account and using Delf3D numerical models, the present study has firstly contended with the hydrodynamic modeling of the estuary; and regarding the obtained hydrodynamic conditions, it has then conducted a two-dimensional modeling of pollution dispersion in the region. The results show that the dispersion of pollution in the cross-sectional area of the estuary has had a rising trend whose concentration gradient does not decline over time. With water flows advancing from the mouth of the estuary toward its end, the dispersion and transfer of pollutant particles will decrease due to the reduction in the range of tidal fluctuations. With releasing pollutant particles in the estuary momentarily, they will gradually leave the estuary through an oscillatory motion over time, being transported to the west of the Persian Gulf and endangering the environment in the west coasts of Bandar Abbas.