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Thesis defence of Camille Mazoyer

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Camille Mazoyer defended her thesis on the subject of Wind-driven circulation and contaminant dispersion in a semi-enclosed bay : case study of the Toulon bay on 4 February 2019 at the University of Toulon.

The entire MIO staff warmly congratulates her !

The Jury was composed of :

  •     Mr Christophe MAES, Research Fellow, University of Western Brittany - IRD (France), Rapporteur
  •     Mr Christophe LETT, Research Director, IRD France Sud (France), Rapporteur
  •     Mr Marcello MAGALDI, Researcher, ISMAR-CNR, (Italy), Examiner
  •     Mrs Anne MOLCARD, University Professor, University of Toulon (France), Thesis Director
  •     Mr. Cédric GALUSINSKY, University Professor, University of Toulon (France), Co-Director of the thesis
  •     Mr. Yann OURMIERES, Master of Conferences-HDR, University of Toulon (France), Co-supervisor

 

Abstract

This doctoral research aim was to study hydrodynamic processes in a semi-enclosed bay such as the Toulon bay and their importance for the dispersion of dissolved contaminants.

For this study, a very high resolution (100 m spatial resolution) configuration named TBAY100, based on the MITgcm ocean circulation model, was implemented. A multi-model nesting was carried out to work at such a resolution, starting from a 1.3 km NEMO-GLAZUR64 configuration of the North-Western Mediterranean then a 400 m NEMO-NIDOR configuration of the Var coastline to correctly force the TBAY100 boundaries. Firstly, a mathematical analysis aimed to quantify energy exchanges for a simplified system then this analysis has been extended to the Toulon bay to better understand the exchanges at the domain open boundaries. This configuration was then validated with various observations including ADCP data and drifting geolocalisable buoys. Typical circulation patterns depending on hydrodynamic and meteorological conditions have been identified.

In a second step, our research focused on pollutant distribution processes relying on chemical samples, mainly copper released by antifouling paints. Contamination hypotheses (sources and release rates) were part of a collaborative work with a chemistry team. Contaminants transport was analyzed using passive tracers implemented in TBAY100 and resulted in 4 pollutant dispersion patterns indicating an export to either the Northern Current or the Port-Cros Marine National Park, as well as a retention of pollutants in the Toulon Large Bay. This configuration may have important societal applications since it can serve as a tool for predicting currents and contaminant dispersion in the Toulon bay.

Keywords : Semi-enclosed bay, coastal circulation, wind-driven circulation, contaminant dispersion, MITgcm, Toulon Bay