Abstract
Saline intrusion poses a significant threat to the quality of water in Gatun Lake, which is the country’s main source of freshwater. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the mixing patterns between saltwater and freshwater is imperative in order to mitigate negative effects. This study analyzed salinity transport in the Panama Canal locks using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method with DualSPHysics® software. The main objective was to simulate various lock operation scenarios under different hydrodynamic conditions in order to evaluate salinity propagation under typical configurations. The results show that the greatest influx of saltwater occurs when vessels descend into the ocean. Furthermore, the effectiveness of implementing retention structures, such as saltwater retention pits, in reducing the influx of saltwa-ter into the lake is demonstrated.