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Aerial infrared imaging reveals large nutrient-rich groundwater inputs to the ocean
Department of Geology and Geophysics, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Department of Geology and Geophysics, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Department of Oceanography, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
Department of Oceanography, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Regional high-resolution (0.1°C, 0.5 m) low-altitude thermal infrared imagery (TIR) reveals the exact input locations and fine-scale mixing structure of massive, cool groundwaters that discharge into the coastal zone as both diffuse flows and as >30 large point-sourced nutrient-rich plumes along the dry western half of the large volcanic island of Hawaii. These inputs are the sole source of new nutrient delivery to coastal waters in this oligotrophic setting. Water column profiling and nutrient sampling show that the plumes are cold, buoyant, nutrient-rich brackish mixtures of groundwater and seawater. By way of example, we illustrate in detail one of the larger plumes, which discharges ca. 12,000 m3 d−1 (ca. 8,600 m3 d−1 freshwater), rates comparable in volume to high-flux groundwater outputs in better-known tropical karst terrains. We further show how nutrient mixing trends may be integrated into TIR sea surface temperatures to produce surface water nutrient maps of regional extent.
Received 4 May 2008; accepted 18 June 2008; published 13 August 2008.
Citation: (2008), Aerial infrared imaging reveals large nutrient-rich groundwater inputs to the ocean, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L15606, doi:10.1029/2008GL034574.
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