A State-Of-The-Art Perspective on the Characterization of Subterranean Estuaries at the Regional Scale

Subterranean estuaries the, subsurface mixing zones of terrestrial groundwater and seawater, substantially in fl uence solute fl uxes to the oceans. Solutes brought by groundwater from land and solutes brought from the sea can undergo biogeochemical reactions. These are often mediated by microbes and controlled by reactions with coastal sediments, and determine the composition of fl uids discharging from STEs (i.e., submarine groundwater discharge), which may have consequences showing in coastal ecosystems. While at the local scale (meters), processes have been intensively studied, the impact of subterranean estuary processes on solute fl uxes to the coastal ocean remains poorly constrained at the regional scale (kilometers). In the present communication, we review the processes that occur in STEs, focusing mainly on fl uid fl ow and biogeochemical transformations of nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon, sulfur and trace metals. We highlight the spatio-temporal dynamics and measurable manifestations of those processes. The objective of this contribution is to provide a perspective on how tracer studies, geophysical methods, remote sensing and hydrogeological modeling could exploit such manifestations to estimate the regional-scale impact of processes in STEs on solute fl uxes to the coastal ocean.

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