Dr. Arnoldo Valle-Levinson, Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering – Water and salt exchange processes
Email: arnoldo@ufl.edu
Arnoldo Valle-Levinson is a coastal physical oceanographer studying hydrodynamics in estuaries, coastal lagoons, fjords and the continental shelf. He is a Professor in in the Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering Sciences and teaches courses in estuarine hydrodynamics, fluid mechanics, physical oceanography, data analysis, and experimental procedures. More information can be found at http://users.coastal.ufl.edu/~arnoldo/arnoldo.html.
Goals of the Exchange Processes Component – Sea-level rise will increase saltwater intrusion into aquifers and estuaries. Intrusion will be particularly marked in karstic carbonate platforms throughout the Caribbean, such as Florida, the Bahamas and the Yucatan peninsula because of high permeability carbonate rocks. The main goal of this activity is to determine the processes that cause salinization of coastal aquifers and changes in freshwater discharge to coastal zones. Specific goals related to exchange processes are:
- Identify the mechanisms that favor saltwater intrusion into subterranean estuaries underlain by karst terrains where conduit and matrix porosity and permeability represent separate flow paths.
- Quantify the relative fractions of salt fluxes between point spring discharges and diffuse discharges
- Determine whether saltwater intrusion pulses are more frequent under certain weather patterns such as dry versus wet seasons?
- Propose thresholds of sea level rise beyond which the net water flux will be directed into aquifers and estuaries.