Willard S Moore, Claudia Benitez-Nelson, Charles Schutte, Amy Moody, Alan Shiller, Ryan J Sibert, Samantha Joye
Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) supplies nutrients, carbon, metals, and radionuclide tracers to estuarine and coastal waters. One aspect of SGD that is poorly recognized is its direct effect on dissolved oxygen (DO) demand in receiving waters, denoted here as SGD-OD. Sulfate-mediated oxidation of organic matter in salty coastal aquifers produces numerous reduced byproducts including sulfide, ammonia, dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen, methane, and reduced metals. When these byproducts are introduced to estuarine and coastal systems by SGD and are oxidized, they may substantially reduce the DO concentration in receiving waters and impact organisms living there...
April 22, 2024: Scientific Reports