A numerical study of arsenic contamination at the Bagnoli bay seabed by a semi-anthropogenic source. Analysis of current regime

Abstract

Bagnoli Coroglio is an urban district of the City of Naples (South Italy), which fronts the Tyrrhenian Sea for nearly 3 km. It is part of the Campi Flegrei caldera, one of the most explosive volcanic areas in Europe. The need for redeveloping the site after the intense industrial activities of the twentieth century has prompted a remarkable research effort to investigate the pollution's degree, nature, and extent at both the land and seafloor. This article focuses on releasing thermal waters from a natural channel as a source of arsenic contamination in the Bagnoli marine sediments; the thermal waters originate from the nearby Agnano hot-springs and have been conveying artificially to the track since the mid-XIX century. As a first part of the outcomes, the work describes the flow regime that characterizes the marine area. The analysis has been conducted via numerical simulations carried out with the software package Delft3D, developed by Deltares, which employs dynamically interfacing modules to account for wave propagation, generation of currents, and presence of coastal structures. Climatic inputs to the software (waves, winds, and tide) have specifically been gathered and analyzed within this research. The numerical study has permitted to furnish, for the first time, a clear and systematic view of the hydrodynamic forcings that characterize the area under investigation. In particular, a leading role in the transport of pollutants could be played by rip current systems, whose characteristics vary with climate intensity (waves and wind) and coastal structures characteristics. Due to its inherently dynamic nature, the proposed approach seems especially desirable in situations where different contamination sources are compared. As such, it could be successfully applied to other sites also.