Search

Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) into a shallow lagoon on the west coast of Mauritius Island (Flic-en-Flac) was investigated using radioactive (3H, 222Rn, 223Ra, 224Ra, 226Ra, 228Ra) and stable (2H, 18O) isotopes and nutrients. SGD intercomparison exercises were carried out to validate the various approaches used to measure SGD including radium and radon measurements, seepage rate measurements using manual and automated meters, sediment bulk conductivity and salinity surveys. SGD measurements using benthic chambers placed on the floor of the Flic-en-Flac Lagoon showed discharge rates up to 500 cm/day. Large variability in SGD was observed over distances of a few meters, which were attributed to different geomorphological features. Deployments of automated seepage meters captured the spatial and temporal variability of SGD with a mean seepage rate of 10 cm/day. The stable isotopic composition of submarine waters was characterized by significant variability and heavy isotope enrichment and was used to predict the contribution of fresh terrestrially derived groundwater to SGD (range from a few % to almost 100%). The integrated SGD flux, estimated from seepage meters placed parallel to the shoreline, was 35 m3/m day, which was in reasonable agreement with results obtained from a hydrologic water balance calculation (26 m3/m day). SGD calculated from the radon inventory method using in situ radon measurements were between 5 and 56 m3/m per day. Low concentrations of radium isotopes observed in the lagoon water reflected the low abundance of U and Th in the basalt that makes up the island. High SGD rates contribute to high nutrients loading to the lagoon, potentially leading to eutrophication. Each of the applied methods yielded unique information about the character and magnitude of SGD. The results of the intercomparison studies have resulted a better understanding of groundwater–seawater interactions in coastal regions. Such information is an important pre-requisi

A decade of studies of metal and nutrient inputs to the back-barrier area of Spiekeroog Island, NW German Wadden Sea, have concluded that pore water discharge provides a significant source of the enrichments of many components measured in the tidal channels during low tide. In this paper we add studies of radium isotopes to help quantify fluxes into and out of this system. Activities of radium isotopes in surface water from tidal channels in the back-barrier area exhibit pronounced changes in concert with the tide, with highest activities occurring near low tide. Other dissolved components: silica, alkalinity, manganese, and DOC exhibit similar changes, with patterns matching the Ra isotopes. Uranium follows a reverse pattern with highest concentrations at high tide. Here we use radium isotope measurements in water column and pore water samples to estimate the fluxes of pore waters that enter the tidal channels during low tide. Using a flushing time of four days and the average activities of 224Ra, 223Ra, and 228Ra measured in the back-barrier surface and pore waters, we construct a balance of these isotopes, which is sustained by pore water flux of (2-4) x 108 liters per tidal cycle. This flux transports Ra and the other enriched components to the tidal channels and causes the observed low tide enrichments. An independent estimate of pore water discharge is based on the depletion of U in the tidal channels. The U-based recharge is about 2x greater than the Ra-based discharge; however, other sinks of U could reduce the recharge estimate. Because the pore waters have wide ranges of enrichment in silica, alkalinity, manganese, DOC, and depletion of U with depth, we estimate concentrations of these components in pore water from the depth expected to contribute the majority of the pore water flux, 3.5 m, to determine fluxes of these components to the tidal channels. We also estimate the exports of these components (and import of U) due to mixing based on average measure

The measurement of short-lived 223Ra often involves a second measurement for supported activities, which represents 227Ac in the sample. Here we exploit this fact, presenting a set of 284 values on the oceanic distribution of 227Ac, which was collected when analyzing water samples for short-lived radium isotopes by the radium delayed coincidence counting system. The present work compiles 227Ac data from coastal regions all over the northern hemisphere, including values from ground water, from estuaries and lagoons, and from marine end-members. Deep-sea samples from a continental slope off Puerto Rico and from an active vent site near Hawaii complete the overview of 227Ac near its potential sources. The average 227Ac activities of nearshore marine end-members range from 0.4 dpm m− 3 at the Gulf of Mexico to 3.0 dpm m− 3 in the coastal waters of the Korean Strait. In analogy to 228Ra, we find the extension of adjacent shelf regions to play a substantial role for 227Ac activities, although less pronounced than for radium, due to its weaker shelf source. Based on previously published values, we calculate an open ocean 227Ac inventory of 1.35 * 1018 dpm 227Acex in the ocean, which corresponds to 37 moles, or 8.4 kg. This implies a flux of 127 dpm m−2 y− 1 from the deep-sea floor. For the shelf regions, we obtain a global inventory of 227Ac of 4.5 * 1015 dpm, which cannot be converted directly into a flux value, as the regional loss term of 227Ac to the open ocean would have to be included. Ac has so far been considered to behave similarly to Ra in the marine environment, with the exception of a strong Ac source in the deep-sea due to 231Paex. Here, we present evidence of geochemical differences between Ac, which is retained in a warm vent system, and Ra, which is readily released [Moore, W.S., Ussler, W. and Paull, C.K., 2008-this issue. Short-lived radium isotopes in the Hawaiian margin: Evidence for large fluid fluxes through the Puna Ridge. Marine Chemistry]. Another

Natural radionuclides: Tracers for transport processes in the oceanRates of many transport and reaction processes in the ocean can be evaluated with the natural clocks provided by the radioactive decay series of threeprimordial radionuclides present in the earth's crust: 232Th, 238U and 235U (detailed review in Ivanovich and Harmon, 1992). In all three decay series,isotopes of relatively soluble elements like U, Ra and Rn, decay to isotopes of highly particle-reactive elements (Th, Pa, Po, Pb), and vice versa. Theresulting disequilibria in the decay chains can be interpreted as a measure of transport rates of the particulate and liquid phases relative to each other.