School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Measurement of temporal and horizontal variations in 222Rn activity in estuarine waters for tracing groundwater inputs

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-5-2011

Abstract

We measured the time-series variations in 222Rn activity at a fixed station in the Yeongsan River Estuary (YRE), Korea, where the upstream water is obstructed by an artificial dam, during November 18–24, 2008, and conducted a horizontal 222Rn survey in the Seomjin River Estuary (SRE), Korea, during December 16–18, 2008. In the YRE, we observed constantly low levels of 222Rn activity over the sampling period, relative to the summer in 2008. The 222Rn variations and 222Rn mass-balance modeling results indicate that the submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in the YRE was relatively low and constant over the sampling period and that the temporal SGD variations were not related to tides or to the water elevation in the dam upstream. This low and constant SGD appears to be due to the lower water level in the dam relative to the local sea level during the study period, resulting in the SGD mostly from the surrounding land areas rather than from the dam. In the SRE, higher 222Rn activities were observed at upstream stations of the river (salinity:

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Copyright © 2011, Korea Ocean Research & Development Institute (KORDI) and the Korean Society of Oceanography (KSO) and Springer Netherlands

Publication Title

Ocean Science Journal

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12601-010-0018-z

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