Radon (222Rn) as tracer for submarine groundwater discharge investigation—limitations of the approach at shallow wind-exposed coastal settings

• DOI: 10.1007/s10661-022-10462-5
• Publication Date: 2022-09-17T06:02:36Z
• Authors: Michael Schubert; Jan Scholten; Matthias Kreuzburg; Eric Petermann; Mariele Lopes de ...; Dennis Köhler; Volker Liebetrau; John Rapaglia; Michael Schlüter
• Keywords: Submarine groundwater discharge; TRACER

Mapping radon (222Rn) distribution patterns in the coastal sea is a widely applied method for localizing and quantifying submarine groundwater discharge (SGD). While literature reports wide range of successful case studies, methodical problems that might occur shallow wind-exposed settings are generally neglected. This paper evaluates causes effects resulted failure approach at distinct location Baltic Sea. Based on simple mass balance model, we discuss effect both wind speed direction as causal this failure. We show settings, which dominated by gentle slopes waters, parameters have severe impact patterns, thus impeding their use SGD investigation. In such cases, needs necessarily to allow not only during but also prior field campaign.