Speaker: Dr. Xiaolong (Leo) Geng
Abstract:
Coastal beach aquifers play a pivotal role in supporting healthy ecosystems along the coastline. Consequently, it is essential to understand the complexity of the driving mechanisms interacting at the shoreline. My presentation focuses on major factors influencing beach hydrodynamics such as freshwater buoyancy, tides, waves, evaporation, and aquifer heterogeneity. The nonlinear interactions between these factors are demonstrated based on real-world data and numerical simulations. Oil spills pose severe threats globally to coastal environments. The second part of my talk addresses how beach hydrodynamics influence the persistence and biodegradation of oil in the Gulf beaches following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. Our integrated field and numerical studies revealed varied oil biodegradation rates in different beach zones due to complex flow and chemical exchange across the land-sea interface.
August 18, 2023 recording (click here)
May 6, 2022 Transcript (download here)
May 6, 2022 Recording (click here)