Modeling Salinity Changes in the Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf is a large body of water in Western Asia, connected through the Strait of Hormuz to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. Countries bordering the Gulf have undergone an increase in their standard of living due to the petroleum industry, which has led to an expansion of desalination plants as a means of generating potable water. Hypersaline discharges from these plants can potentially affect the environment of the Gulf, and the influence of the shamal winds from the north of the Gulf is not clear. In this study, the distribution of seasonal salinity and its variations due to the effect of the shamal, is investigated using the Delft3D-FLOW hydrodynamic model. The seasonal discharges of four major rivers and numerous desalination plants in the Gulf region were also considered in the model. A sample simulation of flow in entire Persian Gulf is shown in Figure 1. A spherical rectangular grid with 10 vertical layers was used for numerical model. Data from TAMUG Microstructure Group in 2013 also provided for a model validation. Furthermore, the effects of wind-driven current and heat flux will be investigated, and the simulation results will provide the new perspective on the circulation in the Persian Gulf.