Submarine Groundwater Discharge in Stony Brook Harbor, NY

As nutrients can significantly impact coastal ecosystems, understanding their path to embayments and oceans is crucial. In Stony Brook Harbor (Long Island, NY), submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is the only significant contribution of freshwater and thus constitutes the main pathway for nutrients, which may eventually reach Long Island Sound. Subterranean estuaries have been shown to be highly reactive zones where nitrogen attenuation can occur. Understanding the fate of nitrogen in Stony Brook Harbor requires knowing the volume of groundwater entering the bay as well as the amount of denitrification, in the context of the hydrogeological framework. This is achieved by combining electrical resistivity survey, water sampling in piezometers, point conductivity and seepage measurements. A Trident probe inserted 60 cm deep into the sediments allows measuring the conductivity and temperature of the sediments and the overlying seawater. In spring 2011, five Trident transects spreading across the head of the harbor were used as a preliminary study to reveal potential locations for SGD. Locations with significant difference between sediment and seawater temperature and/or conductivities were further investigated using an AGI SuperSting 8-channel receiver resistivity meter. Two ultrasonic seepage meters were deployed in May and July 2011 about 20 m below the low tide mark. Five piezometers were aligned parallel to one resistivity survey. Our resistivity data indicate superficial mixing in the intertidal zone. The freshwater extends quite far under the seafloor, above 67 meters after the low tide mark for one location. The freshwater/saltwater interface seems to be almost horizontal. The piezometer data agree relatively well with the resistivity data. The preliminary average seepage rates observed vary from 3 to 60 cm/d. The resistivity sections reveal the presence of a thin layer of high conductivity above the low tide mark. This matches the observation of a superficial muck layer that could partially confine the SGD flow and force it to extend farther. Its discontinuities could explain the variation in seepage rates so far above the low tide mark. The Trident map indicates that the muck layer exists in most of the harbor and thus this site is representative of the rest of the harbor. The muck layer influences the physics of SGD by constraining the flow but also its geochemistry as it denitrifies the freshwater before it is released in the harbor.