Density-dependent surface water-groundwater interaction and nutrient discharge in the Swan-Canning Estuary

Salinity in the Swan–Canning Estuary, Western Australia, varies seasonally from freshwater conditions in winter up to the salinity of seawater in summer. Field observations show that the resulting seasonal density contrasts between the estuary and the adjacent fresh groundwater system are sufficient to drive mixed‐convection cells that give rise to circulation of river water in the aquifer. In this study, we examine the role of steady density‐driven convection as a mechanism that contributes to the exchange of dissolved nutrients, particularly ammonium, between the Swan–Canning Estuary and the local groundwater system. We present results from two‐dimensional (section) and three‐dimensional density‐coupled flow and mass transport modelling, in comparison with Glover's abrupt‐interface solution for saltwater intrusion. The modelling is focused on developing an understanding of the physical processes that influence the long‐term or mean convective behaviour of groundwater beneath the estuary. It is shown that the convective stability depends fundamentally on the interplay between two factors: (1) the downward destabilizing buoyancy effect of density contrasts between the estuary and aquifer; and (2) the upward stabilizing influence of regional groundwater discharge. The structure of convection cells beneath the estuary and recirculation rates of estuary water within the groundwater system are shown to be related to a flow‐modified Rayleigh number that depends critically on the aquifer anisotropy and estuary meander pattern. The recirculation of estuary water by these mechanisms is responsible for transport of high concentrations of ammonium, observed in pore fluids in the estuary bed sediments, into groundwater and its eventual return to the estuary. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.