Using soils information to understand areas of shallow submarine groundwater discharge to coastal lagoons in southern New England

Joshua Dera1, Thomas Privottt2, Mark H. Stolt3

1Coastal Fellow, University of Rhode Island, 2Graduate Student, University of Rhode Island, 3Department of Natural Resources Science, University of Rhode Island

INTRODUCTION Site Selection METHODS DISCUSSION

Groundwater can be a significant source of nutrient pollution to • Samples were collected at eight transects – four sites located in Rhode Island • We sampled 8 transects in 4 locations near-
water bodies leading to degraded water quality • The two chosen coastal ponds in Rhode Island, Ninigret Pond and Point Judith Pond, shore shallow water locations in Ninigret and
and eutrophication. The common nutrient pollutants in ground- had existing subaqueous soil maps which were used to drive initial sampling efforts Point Judith Pond (RI). 6 out of 8 transects
water are nitrogen and Sample Collection had evidence of shallow groundwater
Annual percentage of N and P
phosphorus from fertilizers • Bucket augers were used to collect all soil samples near the shoreline; the discharge (84 out of 116 sampled horizons).
inputs into RI Coastal Ponds from
and domestic onsite waste- locations of the sample sites were recorded via GPS (most sites were in marshes) • Transects where there was no SGD observed,
Groundwater Discharge
water systems. Nitrogen is SGD-DIN • Soil samples were taken in transects starting in the subaqueous on to the upland subaerial soils none of the samples horizons in the
especially important in SGD-P • Elevation was measured soil sample surface with a laser level Describing morphology of a subaqueous soil subaqueous or terrestrial soil had a chrome of
input/total The pink coloration signifies the alpha-alpha-
profile from Ninigret Pond.
estuarine systems because Location input/total • Full morphological descriptions were completed at each observed site, with focus on: Dipyridyl reaction with reduced iron. 3 or more.
DIN input
P input (%)
eutrophication is limited by (%) o Munsell Color (hue, value and chroma) • Transects without SGD, iron concentrations
Legend
this nutrient. In the coastal Ninigret 45 78 o Presence/size/abundance of redoximorphic features Transect Number 5 were only observed in the deepest profile but
lagoons (ponds) of southern Point Judith 29 59 o Coarse fragment type, size, and abundance 1 6
no where else in those transects. On the
2 7
Rhode Island, as much as 93% Quonochontaug 38 85 o Soil Texture 3 8 shoreline areas adjacent to SGD, iron
Winnapaug 93 99 o Temperature 4 NatGeo_World_Map

±
of the N entering the systems concentrations were always found.
o alpha-alpha-Dipyridyl (dippy dye)
comes from submarine groundwater discharge (Moran et al, • Transects without SGD, 10/32 horizons
reaction to reduced iron 0 2 4 Km
2013). Thus, understanding the locations of submarine reacted to alpha-alpha-Dipyridyl (31.25%).
• Topography and surrounding vegetation at each Content may not reflect National Geographic's current map policy. Sources: National Geographic, Esri, Garmin,
HERE, UNEP-WCMC, USGS, NASA, ESA, METI, NRCAN, GEBCO, NOAA, increment P Corp., Esri, HERE,

groundwater discharge (SGD) into estuaries will allow coastal sample site were recorded
DeLorme, MapmyIndia, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS user community
Transects with SGD, 42/84 horizons reacted
scientists to manage estuarine systems to minimize the impacts of • Subsamples of soil horizons were collected, bagged to alpha-alpha-Dipyridyl (50%). This
groundwater nutrient pollution. Recent research has shown that and brought back to the lab for further analysis demonstrated that alpha-alpha-Dipyridyl can
soil morphology can be used to identify location of groundwater help in determining horizons present with
inputs into estuarine systems. Lab Analysis and Statistics reduced iron.
• Salinity and pH of the soil and water samples were The reddish-orange Munsell Colors are • Sites with SGD have a relationship between
Study Objectives tested and recorded in the lab. morphologic evidence of SGD within this
with its texture and the soil temperature and
• Determine if the vegetation on the adjacent uplands in o Salinity (5:1 water to soil by volume) subaqueous soil sample collected in 0 20 40 Meters 0 20 40 Meters 0 20 40 Meters 0 75 150 Meters
Ninigret Pond. salinity. This demonstrates that soil systems
estuarine systems would provide a predictor of areas that had o pH (1:1 water to soil by volume)
Soil sampling was conducted at 4 sites: Ninigret Pond (left) and Point Judith Pond (right) are a continuous entity.
SGD and those that did not. • R was used to calculate all statistics and to prepare all plots

RESULTS SUMMARY
• Three of these transects had salt intolerant
vegetation (e.g. Typha, Iva) growing on the
Figure 1: Data distribution of transect 5 site where SGD is absent. Note that T 5-1 is subaqueous and T 5-2 through T 5-4 are subaerial. upland, and there was evidence of SGD at each
Groundwater Present Salinity (µS) Soil Temperature (°C) of these sites.
• Two transects with salt tolerant vegetation
(e.g. S. patens, S. alterniflora) had no evidence
of shallow SGD.
• Three of the four transects
where Phragmites was growing on the upland
had evidence of SGD.
• Our studies suggest that stands of Typha and
Phragmites may be good indicators that there is
shallow discharge of groundwater into the
adjacent subtidal waters.

REFERENCES
Figure 1.1: Relative depth of sites Figure 1.2: Groundwater Figure 1.3: Soil porewater Figure 1.4: Soil temperature Charette M.A., and E.R. Sholkovitz. 2002. Oxidative precipitation of groundwater-
derived ferrous iron in the subterranean estuary of a coastal bay. Geophysical
with observed soil color and texture presence by horizon salinity by horizon by horizon Research Letters 29:1444–1452.

McVey, S., P.J. Schoeneberger, J. Turenne, M. Payne, D.A. Wysocki, and M.H.
Stolt. 2012. Subaqueous soils (SAS) description. In P.J. Schoeneberger, D.A.
Wysocki, E.C. Benham, and Soil Survey Staff (eds.) Field book for describing and
sampling soils, version 3.0, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service,

Figure 2: Data distribution of transect 6 site where SGD is present. Note that T 6-1 is subaqueous and T 6-2 through T 6-4 are subaerial. National Soil Survey Center, Lincoln, NE, pp. 2-97 to 2-119.

Figure 2: SGD present at site Groundwater Present Salinity (µS) Soil Temperature (°C)
Moran, S.B., Stachelhaus, S.L., Kelly, R.P., and M.J. Brush., 2013. Submarine
Groundwater Discharge as a Source of Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen and
Phosphorus to Coastal Ponds of Southern Rhode Island. Estuaries and Coasts 37,
104–118.

Soil Survey Laboratory Staff. 2004. Soil Survey Laboratory Methods Manual. Soil
survey investigation report no. 42 version 4.0. United States Department of
Agriculture, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

Winter, T.C., J.W. Harvey, O.L. Franke, and W.M. Alley. 2013 Jan 11. Ground
Water and Surface Water A Single Resource. Circular
1139. https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/circ1139/

Figure 2.1: Relative depth of sites
with observed soil color and texture
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I want to thank Dr. Mark H. Stolt and Thomas Privott
from the University of Rhode Island’s Department of
Natural Resources Science as well as Alex Wojtkowiak
and Lauren Salisbury in the Laboratory of Pedology and
Soil-Environmental Science. I would also like to thank
Figure 2.2: Groundwater Figure 2.3: Soil porewater Figure 2.4: Soil temperature Sarah Moseley from the Coastal Fellowship Program
presence by horizon salinity by horizon by horizon for providing me with this opportunity to partake in this
research project. USDA-NRCS provided funding for
this project.