Groundwater discharge to the western Antarctic coastal ocean

Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) measurements have been limited along the Antarctic coast, although groundwater discharge is becoming recognized as an important process in the Antarctic. Quantifying this meltwater pathway is important for hydrologic budgets, ice mass balances and solute deliver...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Research
Main Authors: Kimberly A. Null, D. Reide Corbett, Jared Crenshaw, Richard N. Peterson, Leigha E. Peterson, W. Berry Lyons
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Norwegian Polar Institute 2019
Subjects:
Groundwater
subglacial meltwater
western Antarctic Peninsula
radium
geo
envir
Antarctic
The Antarctic
Antarctic Peninsula
Palmer Station
Palmer-Station
Marr
Marr Glacier
Antarc*
Polar Research
Tidewater
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v38.3497
https://doaj.org/article/11cbc2400ad846a39e9a3708c57d5c9c
Description
Summary:Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) measurements have been limited along the Antarctic coast, although groundwater discharge is becoming recognized as an important process in the Antarctic. Quantifying this meltwater pathway is important for hydrologic budgets, ice mass balances and solute delivery to the coastal ocean. Here, we estimate the combined discharge of subglacial and submarine groundwater to the Antarctic coastal ocean. SGD, including subglacial and submarine groundwater, is quantified along the WAP at the Marr Glacier terminus using the activities of naturally occurring radium isotopes (223Ra, 224Ra). Estimated SGD fluxes from a 224Ra mass balance ranged from (0.41 ± 0.14)×104 and (8.2 ± 2.3)×104m3 d−1. Using a salinity mass balance, we estimate SGD contributes up to 32% of the total freshwater to the coastal environment near Palmer Station. This study suggests that a large portion of the melting glacier may be infiltrating into the bedrock and being discharged to coastal waters along the WAP. Meltwater infiltrating as groundwater at glacier termini is an important solute delivery mechanism to the nearshore environment that can influence biological productivity. More importantly, quantifying this meltwater pathway may be worthy of attention when predicting future impacts of climate change on retreat of tidewater glaciers.

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