Import, export, and recycling of dissolved nutrients in the Ogeechee River estuary (Georgia, USA)

We constructed an empirical mass balance model of nutrient fluxes in the Ogeechee River estuary (Georgia, USA) from eight surveys of seasonal estuarine nutrient concentrations during 2015 and 2016. The model results indicated a net removal of dissolved phosphorus and a net production of dissolved nitrogen (N) within the estuary over an annual cycle. During summer and autumn low flow periods, much of the dissolved N discharged to the ocean seems to be recycled into the estuary in the form of phytoplankton biomass. As a result, the outwelled N is not new nitrogen fueling coastal production but is nitrogen trapped within a recycling loop across the ocean–estuarine boundary. Higher flows in the fall and winter lead to direct discharge of nutrients with minimal recycling. A balanced N budget for the Ogeechee River estuary requires that estuarine N-fixation must exceed burial and denitrification losses within the estuary

Using heat as a tracer to estimate the depth of rapid porewater advection below the sediment–water interface

SummaryRapid exchange of surface waters and porewaters in shallow sediments has important biogeochemical implications for streams and marine systems alike, but mapping these important reaction zones has been difficult. As a means of bridging the gap between the stream and submarine groundwater discharge communities we suggest that the rapid, transient mixing in this zone be called “hydrodynamic exchange”. We then present a new model, MATTSI, which was developed to estimate the timing, depth and magnitude of hydrodynamic exchange below the sediment–water interface by inverting thermal time-series observations. The model uses an effective thermal dispersion term to emulate 3-D hydrodynamic exchange in a 1-D model. The effective dispersion is assumed to decline exponentially below the sediment water interface. Application of the model to a synthetic dataset and two field datasets from 50km offshore in the South Atlantic Bight shows that exchange events can be clearly identified from thermal data. The model is relatively insensitive to realistic errors in sensor depth and thermal conductivity. Although the datasets tested here were too shallow to fully span the depth of flushing, we were able to estimate the depth of hydrodynamic exchange via sensitivity studies

Forcing and Dynamics of Seafloor-Water Column Exchange on a Broad Continental Shelf

Relict sediments of elevated permeability characterize the majority of continental shelves globally (Emery, 1968). In these settings, interactions between benthic boundary layer (BBL) flows and seabed topography generate pressure fluctuations that drive advective and dispersive porewater transport, dramatically increasing the magnitude and variability of porewater solute and particulate exchange across the sediment-water interface (Huettel et al., 1996; Huettel and Rusch, 2000). On broad shallow shelves with a relatively large area-to-volume ratio, the seafloor’s role is magnified. Energetic events may reorganize bedforms across a significant fraction of the shelf, leading to altered exchange dynamics that may persist long after the organizing event. Ecosystem-based management of both resources and environmental status requires improved fundamental understanding of dynamic benthic exchange processes. Scattered, short-time-scale observations are unlikely to capture the full spectrum of events that affect sediment-water exchanges; a persistent observational presence on the seafloor is required

In Situ Determination of Porewater Gases by Underwater Flow-through Membrane Inlet Mass Spectrometry

An underwater membrane introduction mass spectrometer was deployed in permeable sandy sediment on the Georgia continental shelf (depth = 27 m) to measure in situ dissolved gas concentrations in sediment porewaters. Over a 54-h period, 30 profiles (up to 18 cm deep) were sampled using an automated sediment probe coupled with an underwater positive displacement syringe pump. Porewater was analyzed with a flow-through membrane assembly at constant sample flow rate (0.35 mL/min) and membrane temperature (45°C). Calibration was performed on-site using ambient seawater equilibrated with gas standards. Measurements of methane, nitrogen, argon, oxygen, and carbon dioxide concentrations were used to produce depth-time contours and demonstrate the dynamics of dissolved gases in the porewater. Profiles indicated a well-oxygenated surface layer (1 to 2 cm depth) and anoxia below −3 to −5 cm. Elevated concentrations of methane below the oxycline reveal active methanogenesis in shelf sands despite low (0.05%) organic carbon content. Chemocline depth and sediment ripple height were correlated, suggesting that the porewater environment is controlled by advection-driven interactions between boundary-layer flow and bottom topography. By coupling in situ concentration profiles to independent estimates of sediment-water exchange, it was estimated that maximal oxygen consumption at this site occurs \u3e 2 cm below the interface. Oxygen consumption at this site is estimated as 2.3 mmol m−2 d−1 based on combined dissolved profiles and advection estimates. Raw data and data analysis scripts (Matlab) are available electronically in a Web Appendix

Airborne Remote Sensing of the Upper Ocean Turbulence during CASPER-East

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs10081224This study takes on the challenge of resolving upper ocean surface currents with a suite of airborne remote sensing methodologies, simultaneously imaging the ocean surface in visible, infrared, and microwave bands. A series of flights were conducted over an air-sea interaction supersite established 63 km offshore by a large multi-platform CASPER-East experiment. The supersite was equipped with a range of in situ instruments resolving air-sea interface and underwater properties, of which a bottom-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler was used extensively in this paper for the purposes of airborne current retrieval validation and interpretation. A series of water-tracing dye releases took place in coordination with aircraft overpasses, enabling dye plume velocimetry over 100 m to 10 km spatial scales. Similar scales were resolved by a Multichannel Synthetic Aperture Radar, which resolved a swath of instantaneous surface velocities (wave and current) with 10 m resolution and 5 cm/s accuracy. Details of the skin temperature variability imprinted by the upper ocean turbulence were revealed in 1–14,000 m range of spatial scales by a mid-wave infrared camera. Combined, these methodologies provide a unique insight into the complex spatial structure of the upper ocean turbulence on a previously under-resolved range of spatial scales from meters to kilometers. However, much attention in this paper is dedicated to quantifying and understanding uncertainties and ambiguities associated with these remote sensing methodologies, especially regarding the smallest resolvable turbulent scales and to reference depths of retrieved currents.NRLONRNSFNRL program element 61153N WUs BE023-01-41-1C04NRL program element 61153N WUs BE023-01-41-1C02NRL program element 61153N WUs BE023-01-41-6692ONR grant N0001418WX01087NSF grant OCE-154064

Airborne Remote Sensing of the Upper Ocean Turbulence during CASPER-East

This study takes on the challenge of resolving upper ocean surface currents with a suite of airborne remote sensing methodologies, simultaneously imaging the ocean surface in visible, infrared, and microwave bands. A series of flights were conducted over an air-sea interaction supersite established 63 km offshore by a large multi-platform CASPER-East experiment. The supersite was equipped with a range of in situ instruments resolving air-sea interface and underwater properties, of which a bottom-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler was used extensively in this paper for the purposes of airborne current retrieval validation and interpretation. A series of water-tracing dye releases took place in coordination with aircraft overpasses, enabling dye plume velocimetry over 100 m to 10 km spatial scales. Similar scales were resolved by a Multichannel Synthetic Aperture Radar, which resolved a swath of instantaneous surface velocities (wave and current) with 10 m resolution and 5 cm/s accuracy. Details of the skin temperature variability imprinted by the upper ocean turbulence were revealed in 1–14,000 m range of spatial scales by a mid-wave infrared camera. Combined, these methodologies provide a unique insight into the complex spatial structure of the upper ocean turbulence on a previously under-resolved range of spatial scales from meters to kilometers. However, much attention in this paper is dedicated to quantifying and understanding uncertainties and ambiguities associated with these remote sensing methodologies, especially regarding the smallest resolvable turbulent scales and reference depths of retrieved currents