Nutrient flux through soils and aquifers to the coastal zone of Guam (Mariana Islands)
Matson EA. 1993. Nutrient flux through soils and aquifers to the coastal zone of Guam (Mariana Islands). Limnology and Oceanography. 38(2):361-371
Nitrification enriches terrestrial soil waters with nitrate, and other solutes also leach rapidly (within hours to days after saturating rain) through Guam's northern karst plateau into a largely unconfined carbonate aquifer system. Nutrient chemistry and discharge of these enriched aquifer waters into the inter- and subtidal zone was measured to evaluate the importance of this flux to the coastal nutrient regime of the island. The aquifer system can potentially discharge 1340, 390, 12, and 2.5 umol m-2d-1 of NO3, Si, P, and Fe out to a distance of 1 km from shore, which enriches surface seawater by about 20 times the ambient concentration per day. In general, natural flux of nutrients in aquifer waters from tropical carbonate islands will increase as a function of island diameter, aquifer recharge, head, the thickness of the soil layers in which remineralization occurs, and as the acquisition of solutes from subterranean volcanics above sea level increases.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Matson, Ernest
- Units
- PACN , WAPA
- Keywords
- Aquifers, Coastal Regions, Guam, Nutrients, Physical Sciences, Soils