Identification of Hot Moments of Nutrient Processing in Coastal Systems Using High Frequency Sensors
Abstract
Salt marshes are critical hot spots of nutrient processing and retention and play an important role in improving coastal water quality. However, the co-variation of hydrological and biogeochemical subsurface processes in these coastal systems make quantification of spatiotemporal variability in important environmental drivers as well as solute fate and transport challenging. To address this, we monitored redox conditions, water level, and nitrate concentrations across a range of salt marsh elevations at Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve in central California, using a suite of in situ high frequency sensors. Through both continuous and discrete instrument deployments, we captured the rapidly changing conditions of these water quantity/quality parameters across a range of tidal conditions throughout the 2021 water year. Our results indicate that the salt marsh can be characterized by two dominant states as driven by the strong seasonality in precipitation and plant activity at this site. Specifically, we observed the marsh to largely be a source of nitrate during the wet, dormant season and a sink for nitrate during the dry, growing season. Individual precipitation events and distinct tidal conditions produced variability around this general behavior, highlighting the need for in situ, continuous monitoring of environmental and water quality conditions in systems with highly dynamic hydrologic inputs.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2022
- Bibcode:
- 2022AGUFM.H12G..05Z