Seasonal enhancement of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD)-derived nitrate loading into the Ria Formosa coastal lagoon assessed by 1-D modeling of benthic NO3- profiles

The role of benthic sandy ecosystems in mitigating NO3- loads carried by Submarine Groundwater Discharge (SGD) to coastal marine ecosystems is uncertain. Benthic biogeochemical mediation of NO-rich submarine groundwater discharge was studied at the seepage face of a barrier island site in the Ria Formosa coastal lagoon (Southern Portugal). Preliminary analysis of NO3- porewater distributions at the seepage face during discharge indicated that benthic biogeochemical processes could significantly affect the fluxes of groundwater-borne NO3- into the lagoon. In order to discriminate between the relative contribution of transport and reaction processes to shape and concentration range evidenced by in-situ porewater NO3- gradients, an advection-dispersion-reaction (ADR) model of NO3- diagenesis was applied to describe NO3- porewater profiles obtained in March, June, September and December 2006. Good agreement between modeled and measured profiles was obtained. Model-derived apparent benthic nitrification and NO3- reduction rates ranged from 0.01 to 5.2 mmol m(-2) h(-1), sufficient to explain gross observed changes in NO3- fluxes arriving at the seepage face (up to 70% within the surficial 20 cm depth layer). Results of the analysis indicated that the upper limit of the seepage face promoted mitigation of NO3- fluxes to the lagoon throughout the year. In contrast, the lower limit of the seepage area promoted net amplification of the NO3- fluxes into the lagoon in June and September. These results will help constrain further work aiming to clarify the role of permeable sediments in mitigating nitrogen loading of coastal ecosystems. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.