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A State-Of-The-Art Perspective on the Characterization of Subterranean Estuaries at the Regional Scale

  • Nils Moosdorf
  • Michael Ernst Böttcher
  • Dini Adyasari
  • Ercan Erkul
  • Benjamin S. Gilfedder
  • Janek Greskowiak
  • Anna-Kathrina Jenner
  • Lech Kotwicki
  • Gudrun Massmann
  • Mike Müller-Petke
  • Till Oehler
  • Vincent Post
  • Ralf Prien
  • Jan Scholten
  • Bernhard Siemon
  • Cátia Milene Ehlert von Ahn
  • Marc Walther
  • Hannelore Waska
  • Tina Wunderlich
  • Ulf Mallast
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Departments

Global Change Impacts and Adaptation

Abstract

Subterranean estuaries the, subsurface mixing zones of terrestrial groundwater and seawater, substantially influence solute fluxes to the oceans. Solutes brought by groundwater from land and solutes brought from the sea can undergo biogeochemical reactions. These are often mediated by microbes and controlled by reactions with coastal sediments, and determine the composition of fluids discharging from STEs (i.e., submarine groundwater discharge), which may have consequences showing in coastal ecosystems. While at the local scale (meters), processes have been intensively studied, the impact of subterranean estuary processes on solute fluxes to the coastal ocean remains poorly constrained at the regional scale (kilometers). In the present communication, we review the processes that occur in STEs, focusing mainly on fluid flow and biogeochemical transformations of nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon, sulfur and trace metals. We highlight the spatio-temporal dynamics and measurable manifestations of those processes. The objective of this contribution is to provide a perspective on how tracer studies, geophysical methods, remote sensing and hydrogeological modeling could exploit such manifestations to estimate the regional-scale impact of processes in STEs on solute fluxes to the coastal ocean.

Cite this activity

Moosdorf N., Böttcher M.E., Adyasari D., Erkul E., Gilfedder B.S., Greskowiak J., Jenner A.-K., Kotwicki L., Massmann G., Müller-Petke M., Oehler T., Post V., Prien R., Scholten J., Siemon B., Ehlert von Ahn C.M., Walther M., Waska H., Wunderlich T. and Mallast U. (2021) A State-Of-The-Art Perspective on the Characterization of Subterranean Estuaries at the Regional Scale. Frontiers in Earth Science 9: 1-26. 10.3389/feart.2021.601293

Details

Research topics
Date 14.05.2021
Journal Frontiers in Earth Science
Volume 9
Pages 1-26
Open Access Open Access (open)
Open Access Status Open Access (open)
Eprints_link https://cris.leibniz-zmt.de/id/eprint/4576
Peer-Reviewed

Research Spectrum

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