Investigation of submarine groundwater discharge and associated nutrient inputs into Laizhou Bay (China) using radium quartet

Xuejing Wang; Hailong Li; Yan Zhang; Chunmiao Zheng; Maosheng Gao

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111359

Investigation of submarine groundwater discharge and associated nutrient inputs into Laizhou Bay (China) using radium quartet

Mar Pollut Bull. 2020 Aug:157:111359. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111359. Epub 2020 Jun 16.

Authors

Xuejing Wang¹, Hailong Li², Yan Zhang³, Chunmiao Zheng⁴, Maosheng Gao⁵

Affiliations

¹ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China. Electronic address: wangxj3@sustech.edu.cn.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China; State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences-Beijing, Beijing 100083, China; School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences-Beijing, Beijing 100083, China. Electronic address: lihailong@sustech.edu.cn.
³ State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences-Beijing, Beijing 100083, China; School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences-Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.
⁴ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
⁵ Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao 266071, China.

PMID: 32658708
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111359

Abstract

Radium is widely used to estimate flushing time, submarine groundwater discharge (SGD), and submarine fresh groundwater discharge (SFGD), however there are important sources of uncertainty in current methods. Here an improved method is proposed, incorporating all radium quartet information to estimate flushing time, SFGD, SGD, and associated nutrient fluxes during wet and dry seasons in Laizhou Bay, China. Both SGD and SFGD in dry season are comparable to that in wet season, likely due to higher groundwater hydraulic gradients resulting from higher groundwater table and lower mean sea level in dry season. Estimated dry and wet season SFGD are of the same order of magnitude as the annually-averaged Yellow River discharge, highlighting SFGD's importance to the bay environment. Nutrient inputs into Laizhou Bay were estimated for the wet season, suggesting that SGD-derived nutrients are indeed important and significant for coastal environments compared to local river discharge estimates.

Keywords: Laizhou Bay; Nutrients; Radium quartet; Seasonal variations; Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD).

MeSH terms

Bays
China
Environmental Monitoring
Groundwater*
Nutrients
Radium / analysis*

Substances

Radium