Dispersal Pathways for Particle-Associated Pollutants
Robert A. Young 1,
Donald J. P. Swift 2,
Thomas L. Clarke 3,
George R. Harvey 4, and
Peter R. Betzer 5
1 Exxon Production Research Company, Post Office Box 2189, Houston, Texas 77001
2 Arco Oil and Gas Company, Post Office Box 2819, Dallas, Texas 75221
3 Ocean Acoustics Laboratory at AOML.
4 Ocean Chemistry Laboratory at AOML.
5 Professor and chairman, Department of Marine Sciences, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg 33701.
Particle-associated pollutants (totaling 107 metric tons per year) are introduced into the New York Bight by ocean dumping, estuarine discharge, sewage outfalls, eolian transport, and shipping waste and spillage. Oceanic and estuarine circulation processes dilute and transport the particles by a natural dispersal system that also tends to be highly distributive; particle-associated pollutants apparently seek the same sinks in the Hudson River shelf valley and intracoastal weltlands, regardless of their point of introduction.
