The flow of fresh groundwater may provide substantial inputs of nutrients and solutes to the oceans. However, the extent to which hydrogeological parameters control groundwater flow to the world’s oceans has not been quantified systematically. Here we present a spatially resolved global model of coastal groundwater discharge to show that the contribution of fresh groundwater accounts for ~0.6% (0.004%–1.3%) of the total freshwater input and ~2% (0.003%–7.7%) of the solute input for carbon, nitrogen, silica and strontium. However, the coastal discharge of fresh groundwater and nutrients displays a high spatial variability and for an estimated 26% (0.4%–39%) of the world’s estuaries, 17% (0.3%–31%) of the salt marshes and 14% (0.1–26%) of the coral reefs, the flux of terrestrial groundwater exceeds 25% of the river flux and poses a risk for pollution and eutrophication.
Luijendijk E., Gleeson T. and Moosdorf N. (2020) Fresh groundwater discharge insignificant for the world’s oceans but important for coastal ecosystems. Nature Communications 11(1). 10.1038/s41467-020-15064-8
@article{Luijendijk2020,
Title = {Fresh groundwater discharge insignificant for the world’s oceans but important for coastal ecosystems},
Author = {Luijendijk, Elco and Gleeson, Tom and Moosdorf, Nils},
Editor = {},
Journal = {Nature Communications},
Year = {2020},
Volume = {11},
Doi = {10.1038/s41467-020-15064-8},
Abstract = {The flow of fresh groundwater may provide substantial inputs of nutrients and solutes to the oceans. However, the extent to which hydrogeological parameters control groundwater flow to the world’s oceans has not been quantified systematically. Here we present a spatially resolved global model of coastal groundwater discharge to show that the contribution of fresh groundwater accounts for ~0.6% (0.004%–1.3%) of the total freshwater input and ~2% (0.003%–7.7%) of the solute input for carbon, nitrogen, silica and strontium. However, the coastal discharge of fresh groundwater and nutrients displays a high spatial variability and for an estimated 26% (0.4%–39%) of the world’s estuaries, 17% (0.3%–31%) of the salt marshes and 14% (0.1–26%) of the coral reefs, the flux of terrestrial groundwater exceeds 25% of the river flux and poses a risk for pollution and eutrophication.},
}
TY - JOUR
AU - Luijendijk, Elco
AU - Gleeson, Tom
AU - Moosdorf, Nils
TI - Fresh groundwater discharge insignificant for the world’s oceans but important for coastal ecosystems
T2 - Nature Communications
PY - 2020
VL - 11
DO - 10.1038/s41467-020-15064-8
AB - The flow of fresh groundwater may provide substantial inputs of nutrients and solutes to the oceans. However, the extent to which hydrogeological parameters control groundwater flow to the world’s oceans has not been quantified systematically. Here we present a spatially resolved global model of coastal groundwater discharge to show that the contribution of fresh groundwater accounts for ~0.6% (0.004%–1.3%) of the total freshwater input and ~2% (0.003%–7.7%) of the solute input for carbon, nitrogen, silica and strontium. However, the coastal discharge of fresh groundwater and nutrients displays a high spatial variability and for an estimated 26% (0.4%–39%) of the world’s estuaries, 17% (0.3%–31%) of the salt marshes and 14% (0.1–26%) of the coral reefs, the flux of terrestrial groundwater exceeds 25% of the river flux and poses a risk for pollution and eutrophication.
ER -
