Subsurface Mixing Dynamics Across the Salt-Freshwater Interface
Mixing along the salt-freshwater interface is critical for geochemical reactions, transport, and transformation of nutrients and contaminants in coastal ecosystems. However, the mechanisms and controls of mixing are not well understood. We develop an analytical model, based on the coupling between flow deformation and dispersion, which predicts the mixing dynamics along the interface for steady-state flow in coastal aquifers. The analytical predictions are compared with the results of detailed numerical simulations, which show that nonuniform flow fields, inherent to seawater intrusion in coastal aquifer, result in a non-monotonic evolution of mixing width and mixing rates along the interface. The analytical model accurately captures these dynamics over a range of freshwater flow rates and dispersivities. It predicts the evolution of the mixing width and mixing rates along the interface, offering a new framework for understanding and modeling mixing and reaction processes in coastal aquifers. ; This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 722028 (ENIGMA ITN). Maria Pool acknowledges the support of MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 through the Torres-Quevedo program (PTQ2018-010081). MD acknowledges the support of MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 through the project HydroPore (PID2019-106887GB-C31) and the Grant CEX2018-000794-S. ; Peer reviewed