Submarine groundwater discharge and benthic biogeochemical zonation in the Huanghe River Estuary

Guangquan Chen; Bochao Xu; Shibin Zhao; Disong Yang; William C. Burnett; Shaobo Diao; Maosheng Gao; Xingyong Xu; Lisha Wang

doi:10.1007/s13131-021-1882-3

Volume 41 Issue 1

Jan. 2022

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Guangquan Chen, Bochao Xu, Shibin Zhao, Disong Yang, William C. Burnett, Shaobo Diao, Maosheng Gao, Xingyong Xu, Lisha Wang. Submarine groundwater discharge and benthic biogeochemical zonation in the Huanghe River Estuary[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2022, 41(1): 11-20. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1882-3

Citation:

Guangquan Chen, Bochao Xu, Shibin Zhao, Disong Yang, William C. Burnett, Shaobo Diao, Maosheng Gao, Xingyong Xu, Lisha Wang. Submarine groundwater discharge and benthic biogeochemical zonation in the Huanghe River Estuary[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2022, 41(1): 11-20. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1882-3

Citation:

Guangquan Chen, Bochao Xu, Shibin Zhao, Disong Yang, William C. Burnett, Shaobo Diao, Maosheng Gao, Xingyong Xu, Lisha Wang. Submarine groundwater discharge and benthic biogeochemical zonation in the Huanghe River Estuary[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2022, 41(1): 11-20. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1882-3

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Submarine groundwater discharge and benthic biogeochemical zonation in the Huanghe River Estuary

doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1882-3

Guangquan Chen^{1, 2},
Bochao Xu^{3, 4
,
,},
Shibin Zhao^{3, 4, 5},
Disong Yang^{3, 4, 5},
William C. Burnett⁶,
Shaobo Diao⁷,
Maosheng Gao⁷,
Xingyong Xu^{1, 2},
Lisha Wang^{3, 4, 5}

1.
Key Laboratory of Coastal Science and Integrated Management, First Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao 266061, China
2.
Laboratory for Marine Geology, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao), Qingdao 266237, China
3.
Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System/Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology of Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China
4.
Marine Ecology and Environmental Science Laboratory, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao), Qingdao 266237, China
5.
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China
6.
Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee 32306, USA
7.
Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, China Geological Survey, Qingdao 266071, China

Funds: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41876075, 41706067 and 41620104001; the Basic Scientific Fund for National Public Research Institutes of China under contract No. 2017Q02; the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China under contract Nos 201841007, 201962003 and 201762031; the Marine S&T Fund of Shandong Province for Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao) under contract No. 2018SDKJ0503; the Youth Talent Support Program of the Laboratory for Marine Ecology and Environmental Science, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao) under contract No. LMEES-YTSP-2018-02-06.

More Information

Corresponding author: E-mail: xubc@ouc.edu.cn
Received Date: 2021-01-26
Accepted Date: 2021-03-24

Available Online: 2021-11-02

Publish Date: 2022-01-10

Abstract

Abstract

Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) has received increasing attention by studies on coastal areas; however, its effects on biogeochemical zonation have not been investigated to date. The Huanghe River Estuary (HRE) is a world class river estuary with high turbidity, and heavy human regulation. This study investigated how SGD is related to the benthic biogeochemistry of the HRE. Based on the distribution of several parameters (e.g., salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO) levels, pH, radium isotopes, and nutrients), the HRE was subdivided into six different zones, and the SGD fluxes within each zone were quantified and compared. The highest SGD flux was found in the northwest nearshore zone, where it was more than one order of magnitude higher than in the offshore zone. High SGD resulted in low DO and pH, but high nutrient levels in the benthic boundary layer. The southeast nearshore zone was also characterized by high SGD flux, but benthic waters were more oxic because of the dominating inputs by the Huanghe River. These data suggest that such a zonation would help to understand benthic biogeochemical processes. High SGD may not only contribute to the estuarine nutrient budget, but may also contribute to the formation of hypoxia and acidification.
- SGD zonation,
- benthic biogeochemistry,
- radium isotopes,
- Huanghe River Estuary

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