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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 111, C09006, doi:10.1029/2005JC003041, 2006

Estimates of flushing times, submarine groundwater discharge, and nutrient fluxes to Okatee Estuary, South Carolina

Willard S. Moore

Department of Geological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA


Jackson O. Blanton

Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, Savannah, Georgia, USA


Samantha B. Joye

Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA


Abstract

A physical model based on determining the fraction of the tidal prism that returns to the estuary on the next high tide is used to estimate the flushing time of the Okatee River estuary. The return flow factor (b) of 0.81 yields a flushing time of 2 days. A mass balance model of 228Ra and salinity is also used to estimate b. This model yields an average b = 0.79, virtually the same as the physical model. A third model based on the decay of 224Ra relative to 228Ra is used to determine the apparent age of water in the estuary. These ages range from 1.6 to 5 days, with an average of 3.4 days. These three independent estimates are in remarkably close agreement, certainly within the error of each estimate. We use these residence times to develop a mass balance model for the radium isotopes in the Okatee estuary. We consider decay, mixing, sedimentary input, river input, and submarine groundwater discharge (SGD). The major loss term for each isotope is mixing with water in Port Royal Sound; the major input for each isotope is SGD. At steady state these terms must balance. Knowing the water age and the radium isotope composition of groundwater entering the Okatee allows us to estimate an average SGD flux of 1 m3/s. The SGD flux is a factor of 3–4 greater during the summer relative to the winter. This SGD supplies a considerable quantity of nutrients and carbon into the Okatee system.

Received 4 May 2005; accepted 19 May 2006; published 2 September 2006.

Keywords: estuary; flushing time; submarine groundwater discharge; radium; nutrient flux; carbon flux.

Index Terms: 0442 Biogeosciences: Estuarine and nearshore processes (4235); 1050 Geochemistry: Marine geochemistry (4835, 4845, 4850); 1830 Hydrology: Groundwater/surface water interaction; 0470 Biogeosciences: Nutrients and nutrient cycling (4845, 4850); 4860 Oceanography: Biological and Chemical: Radioactivity and radioisotopes.

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Citation: Moore, W. S., J. O. Blanton, and S. B. Joye (2006), Estimates of flushing times, submarine groundwater discharge, and nutrient fluxes to Okatee Estuary, South Carolina, J. Geophys. Res., 111, C09006, doi:10.1029/2005JC003041.