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    A novel approach for direct estimation of fresh groundwater discharge to an estuary

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    Article (376.1Kb)
    Figure S1: Flood and ebb tide index velocity calibrations relating center-channel velocity with channel-average velocity. (1.246Mb)
    Figure S2: Water level-area relationship for the survey transect. (1.248Mb)
    Figure S3: Index salinity calibration relating depth-averaged, channel-edge salinity (index salinity) with channel-average salinity. (1.195Mb)
    Additional file information (1.454Kb)
    Date
    2011-06-04
    Author
    Ganju, Neil K.  Concept link
    Metadata
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    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4648
    As published
    https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL047718
    DOI
    10.1029/2011GL047718
    Keyword
     Estuarine processes; Nutrient loading; Submarine groundwater discharge; Tidal pumping 
    Abstract
    Coastal groundwater discharge is an important source of freshwater and nutrients to coastal and estuarine systems. Directly quantifying the spatially integrated discharge of fresh groundwater over a coastline is difficult due to spatial variability and limited observational methods. In this study, I applied a novel approach to estimate net freshwater discharge from a groundwater-fed tidal creek over a spring-neap cycle, with high temporal resolution. Acoustic velocity instruments measured tidal water fluxes while other sensors measured vertical and lateral salinity to estimate cross-sectionally averaged salinity. These measurements were used in a time-dependent version of Knudsen's salt balance calculation to estimate the fresh groundwater contribution to the tidal creek. The time-series of fresh groundwater discharge shows the dependence of fresh groundwater discharge on tidal pumping, and the large difference between monthly mean discharge and instantaneous discharge over shorter timescales. The approach developed here can be implemented over timescales from days to years, in any size estuary with dominant groundwater inputs and well-defined cross-sections. The approach also directly links delivery of groundwater from the watershed with fluxes to the coastal environment.
    Description
    This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 38 (2011): L11402, doi:10.1029/2011GL047718.
    Collections
    • Sediment Transport
    Suggested Citation
    Geophysical Research Letters 38 (2011): L11402
     

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