Impacts Of Submarine Groundwater Discharge On Kuwait Bay

The flow of groundwater into the sea, which is known as submarine groundwater discharge (SGD), is an important phenomenon that takes place at the interface between inland groundwater and the sea. The importance of this phenomenon arises from its proven impact on the chemistry of coastal waters. In e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment 2014-01, Vol.182
Main Authors: Al-Senafy, M, Fadlelmawla, A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chemical analysis
Chlorophyll
Coastal waters
Discharge
Groundwater
Groundwater discharge
Isotopes
Marine environment
Organic chemistry
Radium
Radium 226
Radium isotopes
Radium radioisotopes
Sampling
Seawater
Trace elements
Tracers
Water analysis
Water sampling
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Summary:The flow of groundwater into the sea, which is known as submarine groundwater discharge (SGD), is an important phenomenon that takes place at the interface between inland groundwater and the sea. The importance of this phenomenon arises from its proven impact on the chemistry of coastal waters. In efforts to support sound management of Kuwait bay, this study was carried out to obtain knowledge on one of the significant elements of the nutritional budget of the bay, that is, the SGD. The study adopted the use of naturally occurring radium isotopes as tracers to quantify the SGD to the bay. A total of 12 sampling campaigns were conducted resulting in the collection of 176 seawater samples. These samples were collected for oceanographic characterization of the bay water, determination of radium content, and determination of trace elements content as ancillary information. Two groundwater sampling campaigns were conducted resulting in collecting 48 radium samples, 45 major elements samples and 23 trace elements samples. Signs for SGD impacts on the characteristics of the bay were examined by looking into temporal and spatial correlations between 226Ra activities and bay water characteristics. Overall, temperature, nitrate and chlorophyll-a showed temporal and spatial trend similar to radium. It is recommended to conduct an overall budgeting of the bay's nutritional and elemental inputs and outputs in order to reduce the impacts of SGD.
ISSN:1746-448X
1743-3541
DOI:10.2495/WP140151