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BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS OF THE SPATIAL VARIABILITY OF SUBMARINE GROUNDWATER DISCHARGE IN A SUBTROPICAL ESTUARY
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BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS OF THE SPATIAL VARIABILITY OF SUBMARINE GROUNDWATER DISCHARGE IN A SUBTROPICAL ESTUARY

Paige Louise Plier
University of West Florida
Master of Science (MS), University of West Florida
2017

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Abstract

Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is a widely recognized phenomenon known to greatly influence coastal ecosystems. Depending on local hydrological conditions, the spatial distribution of SGD tends to be naturally patchy. A previously confirmed SGD location in western Escambia Bay was investigated using radon tracers, meiofauna indicator species, water quality, and sediment properties (Prince 2013). Thoron (Rn-220) concentrations displayed spatial "patchiness" on scales of less than ten meters and varied across the study site. The largest area with high Rn-220 was ~300 square meters and the smallest was 10 square meters. Meiofauna abundance was dominated by nematodes and occurred with only two other taxa: Crustacea and Annelida. The system was P-limited with enriched nutrient concentrations in the pore water, especially ammonium which averaged 47.3 uM. Sediment grain size was consistent throughout the study site and was not focused in patches. Statistics showed the there was not a difference between "SGD" and "non-SGD" patches, although there was a significant positive correlation between meiofauna abundance and grain size (r=0.35, p=0.05). "Patchiness" in groundwater tracer distribution was not found to have implications on meiofauna, nutrients, or sediment on the local scale.
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