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Submarine Groundwater Discharge to the Coastal Environment of a Mediterranean Island (Majorca, Spain): Ecosystem and Biogeochemical Significance

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This article reports the results of a study of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) to coastal waters of Majorca (NW Mediterranean). The overall aim is to evaluate the relevance of SGD of the island and chemically characterize the components that are supplied to the coastal waters through this pathway. Although other discharge areas are identified, we particularly focus on SGD in bays and areas of increased sea water residence time where effects of the discharges are expected to be most notable. Analysis at four selected embayments with different land-use characteristics indicated a link between human activities (mainly agriculture and urban) and compounds arriving to the coast. A pathway for these elements is the diffuse discharge along the shoreline, as suggested by the inverse relationship between salinity and nutrients in nearshore porewaters. A general survey was conducted at 46 sites around the island, and used dissolved radium as a qualitative indicator of SGD. Measurements of nutrients (P and N), pCO2 and TOC were performed to characterize the elements delivered to the coastal environment. Most nearshore samples showed 224Ra enrichment (mean ± SE, 7.0 ± 0.6 dpm 100 l−1) with respect to offshore waters (1.1 ± 0.2 dpm 100 l−1); however, 224Ra measurements along the coast were highly variable (1.0–38.1 dpm 100 l−1). Coastal samples with enhanced radium levels showed elevated pCO2 with respect to atmospheric concentrations, which together with high pCO2 in groundwater (>5,000 ppm) indicates that SGD is an important vector of CO2 to coastal waters. Moreover, a relationship between 224Ra and phytoplankton biomass was established, suggesting an important impact of SGD on coastal productivity. The results presented here provide a first approximation of the SGD effect in the coastal waters of Majorca, and indicate that SGD could be an important source of nutrients and CO2 to the coast, strongly influencing the productivity and biogeochemical cycling of the coastal waters of Majorca.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Balearic Island Government (Economia. Hisenda i Innovacio; Núm: 8171/2006 and 6014/2007), EDASE (Ref: CGL2008-00047/BTE), and the European Union FP6 Integrated Project THRESHOLDS (project no. IP-003933). Support for the research of Pere Masqué was received through the prize ICREA Academia, funded by the Generalitat de Catalunya. We are most grateful for the helpful comments of two anonymous reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Miquel Marques 21, Esporles, 07190, Spain

    Gotzon Basterretxea, Antonio Tovar-Sanchez, Carlos M. Duarte, Lorena Martinez-Ribes & Raquel Vaquer-Sunyer

  2. College of William & Mary, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, P.O. Box 1346, Gloucester Point, Virginia, 23062, USA

    Aaron J. Beck

  3. Departament de Física & Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193, Spain

    Pere Masqué, Jordi Garcia-Orellana & Esther Garcia-Solsona

  4. Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, 11794-5000, USA

    Henry J. Bokuniewicz & Ruth Coffey

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  1. Gotzon Basterretxea
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  2. Antonio Tovar-Sanchez
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Correspondence to Gotzon Basterretxea.

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Author contributions

G.B. and A.T.-S. led planning design and execution of the sampling, analyzed the data and wrote the paper. A.B. designed, sampled, and analyzed waters from piezometers. P.M., J.G.-O., and E.G.-S were involved in the sampling, analysis, and interpretation of the isotopic measurements. H.B. and R.C. participated in the field sampling, and led the design and measurements obtained from the seepage meters. C.D. and R.V.-S. provided and processed information on PCO2 and LM-R participated in the analysis of nutrients and in the GIS based analyses. All authors were involved in the writing stage of the manuscript and collaborated on the analysis, interpretation, and discussion of the results.

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Basterretxea, G., Tovar-Sanchez, A., Beck, A.J. et al. Submarine Groundwater Discharge to the Coastal Environment of a Mediterranean Island (Majorca, Spain): Ecosystem and Biogeochemical Significance. Ecosystems 13, 629–643 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-010-9334-5

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