Sustained upward groundwater discharge through salt marsh tidal creeks

Abstract

Salt marshes can export considerable nutrients and carbon to the ocean through submarine groundwater discharge (SGD). However, the complicated SGD processes in salt marshes remain poorly understood. Here, we first report the phenomenon of numerous highly saline artesian springs found in a salt marsh system of East China. Multiple methods including time-series thermal monitoring, isotope signatures, and high-resolution electrical resistivity tomography were combined to determine their origin and trajectory. Strong evidence suggests that these springs keep discharging even during high tide and represent a long-term re-distribution process of the ancient marine water trapped in the unconfined aquifer. This new pattern of spring-derived groundwater flow indicates a hidden SGD pathway and has significant implications for studies concerning SGD-derived fluxes in similar multi-aquifer-aquitard coastal systems.