The New Jersey Toxics Reduction Workplan for New York - New Jersey Harbor: Study I-E – Hydrodynamic Studies in the Newark Bay Complex: Research Project Summary
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Date
2006-12
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Trenton, N.J. : New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Science, Research and Technology
Abstract
The Newark Bay Complex, which is part of New York-New Jersey (NY-NJ) Harbor, consists of Newark Bay, the Arthur Kill and Kill van Kull tidal straits, and the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers. The presence of toxic chemicals in water and sediments throughout the harbor has resulted in reduced water quality, fisheries restrictions/advisories, and general adverse impacts to the estuarine and coastal ecosystems. Study I-E of the New Jersey Toxics Reduction Workplan for NY-NJ Harbor is a comprehensive hydrodynamic study completed between the years 2000 and 2002 to begin to understand the effects of tidal, meteorological, and freshwater forces on circulation pattern in the system. In addition, a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model of the complex has been developed that replicates the available water elevation, salinity, and current velocity data. Circulation in the Newark Bay Complex responds to a combination of influences in a complex event-driven fashion, making the identification of a long-term average circulation pattern difficult. Within the navigation channel of Newark Bay, classic estuarine gravitational circulation occurs, with daily-averaged currents directed seaward near the surface and landward near the bottom. This circulation pattern can be broken down during periods of very low discharge from the Passaic River, such that daily-averaged currents are largely directed landward throughout most of the water column. Persistent east/west wind events can produce large “flow-through” flushing events in the Newark Bay Complex, with currents predominantly directed through the Kill Van Kull. Large Passaic River flow events produce higher suspended sediment concentrations in Newark Bay. Such events also increase both vertical stratification and the current velocity in the landward-flowing bottom layer of the bay, and thus can trap material that rapidly settles to this layer. However, these events also increase the surface outflow and can transport slowly settling material towards the Kill van Kull, where stronger tidal currents can carry this material into Upper New York Bay. The fate of the suspended sediment will depend on the settling rate of the particles. The partitioning of contaminants across sediment size and the settling velocity of the suspended sediment particles will significantly modify the fate and transport of contaminants in NY-NJ Harbor. An initial estimate of the suspended sediment flux through the Kill van Kull indicates that approximately 100,000metric tons of suspended sediment (net) are transported from Upper New York Bay into Newark Bay each year.
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Keywords
New Jersey, New Jersey - Newark Bay Complex