Analysis of the Time Behaviour of a Diffusive Transport in a Stratified Medium

The paper presents a study of the diffusive transport of passive solute plumes in a two-dimensional non-homogeneous depth stratified flow domain. All the properties of the process are expressed by depth dependent deterministic functions. The method of moments, combined with the method of Green functions are chosen to determine the relevant characteristics of the flow (mass, center of mass, variance, etc.) used to describe the behaviour of the transient motion. General relationships for the n-order concentration moments are proved. Further, it is derived that the transient motion defined by time-dependent parameters tends asymptotically at large time to a stable regime whose characteristics are determined. Consequently, under certain hypotheses, an equivalence between the mean original process and a Fickian diffusive transport at large time may be established. The time required by the process to reach its asymptotic behaviour is also calculated.