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Quantification of the water age and submarine groundwater discharge in a typical semi-enclosed bay: Using stable oxygen (18O) and radioactive radium (228Ra) isotopes
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  • Qianqian Wang,
  • Xiaolang Zhang,
  • Xuejing Wang,
  • Kai Xiao,
  • Yan Zhang,
  • Linlin Wang,
  • Xingxing Kuang,
  • Hailong Li
Qianqian Wang
Southern University of Science and technology
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Xiaolang Zhang
The University of Hong Kong
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Xuejing Wang
Southern University of Science and Technology

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Kai Xiao
Southern University of Science and Technology
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Yan Zhang
China University of Geosciences (Beijing)
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Linlin Wang
Southern University of Science and Technology
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Xingxing Kuang
Southern University of Science and Technology
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Hailong Li
Southern University of Science and Technology
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Abstract

Nutrient inputs through submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) play a significant role in sustaining primary productivity and nutrient cycling in coastal areas. Currently, various geochemical isotopes are used to trace the SGD processes. However, mass balance models of stable water isotopes (2H and 18O) are seldom used in SGD estimating. In this study, mass balance models of 18O and radium isotopes were used to estimate the water age and SGD in Laizhou Bay, China based on the isotope data sampled in August 2017. The water age ranged from 23.5 to 50.0 days with an average of 32.1 ± 16.3 days. The SGD flux ranged from 1.29 × 108 m3 d-1 to 2.84 × 108 m3 d-1 with an average of (2.07 ± 1.04) × 108 m3 d-1. The sensitivity analysis revealed that estimated results of the water age and SGD are very sensitive to the 18O value in evaporation, as well as 18O and 228Ra values in groundwater end-members. Based on the isotope method, the proportion of the Yellow River discharging into Laizhou Bay was estimated to be less than 27% of the total discharge. Furthermore, combining water and salt mass balance models, the submarine fresh groundwater discharge (SFGD) flux ranged from 0.54 × 107 m3 d-1 to 1.31 × 107 m3 d-1 with an average of (0.93 ± 0.46) × 107 m3 d-1. This study reveals that stable and radium isotopes can be effectively combined to estimate the water age and SGD, which may be applied to coastal areas elsewhere.
Dec 2021Published in Journal of Hydrology volume 603 on pages 127088. 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.127088