. Earth Science News .
WATER WORLD
Global warming's next surprise: Saltier beaches
by Staff Writers
Newark NJ (SPX) Aug 15, 2016


The team analyzed nearly 400 sediment samples collected during the sequential phases of a complete tidal cycle, from day to night, on seven discontinuous days.

Batches of sand from a beach on the Delaware Bay are yielding insights into the powerful impact of temperature rise and evaporation along the shore that are in turn challenging long-held assumptions about what causes beach salinity to fluctuate in coastal zones that support a rich network of sea creatures and plants.

The findings have implications for the migration and survival of invertebrates such as mussels and crabs as global warming drives temperatures higher.

A first major study of the effects of evaporation on the flow of subsurface water and salinity, or salt content, in the beach intertidal zone - the section of the beach between the low and high tide marks - is being published in Scientific Reports, an online affiliate of Nature.

The study, by New Jersey Institute of Technology's Center for Natural Resources Development (CNRDP) and led by two environmental engineers and a coastal geologist, shows that sediments from some sections of Slaughter Beach in Delaware have salt concentrations four times as high as the ocean water that washes over them. The finding came as a surprise.

The nearshore seawater the team measured had salt concentrations of 25 grams per liter (g/L), leading the researchers to expect that the subsurface water in areas of the beach it infiltrated would have similar or even lower levels as seawater mixes with inland groundwater in this zone. However, they discovered that the average salinity in the upper intertidal zone - the high tide line - was 60 g/L, with some values reaching as high as 100.

"These elevated levels can only be caused by evaporation, as there is no other mechanism for increasing the salt in pore water - the water trapped between the grains of sediment," said Xiaolong Geng, a postdoctoral fellow at NJIT and the principal author of the study, noting that the rates of evaporation - and salinity - are thus mainly determined by temperature and relative humidity, while tide and wave flows dilute a beach's salt content.

"Previous studies have identified seawater as the primary source of salinity in coastal aquifer systems, thereby concluding that seawater infiltration always increases pore-water salinity by seawater-groundwater mixing dynamics," said Michel Boufadel, director of the CNRDP, who is also an author of the study.

"Based on what we learned, we think this finding should alter the way water management in coastal areas is conducted."

The team analyzed nearly 400 sediment samples collected during the sequential phases of a complete tidal cycle, from day to night, on seven discontinuous days.

The intertidal, or littoral, zone, is a dynamic habitat, washed by seawater at high tide and uncovered at low tide, that is favored by crabs, mussels and sea anemones, the birds and sea mammals that feed on them, and plants such as kelp. Many of these animals burrow in the beach to find food and to seek protection from predators and the action of waves, and are in near constant contact with pore water.

The researchers have developed models that show that increases in temperature associated with global warming will not only make inland locations more salty, but would also create drastically different pattern of pore water salinity that will have implications for animals and plants in the intertidal zone.

"Evaporation is an important driver of underground water flow and salinity gradients, and animals such as mussels and crabs are affected by changes in salinity. If the concentrations are too high or too low, they will move away," noted Geng.

Nancy Jackson, a professor of coastal geomorphology in the Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science and the study's third author, collected the beach samples from Slaughter Beach and provided interpretations of pore water dynamics.


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

Previous Report
WATER WORLD
Climate change already accelerating sea level rise
Boulder CO (SPX) Aug 15, 2016
Greenhouse gases are already having an accelerating effect on sea level rise, but the impact has so far been masked by the cataclysmic 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, according to a new study led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Satellite observations, which began in 1993, indicate that the rate of sea level rise has held fairly steady at about 3 ... read more


WATER WORLD
Syrian refugees invent app for Germany's bureaucracy maze

Shattered glass, broken promises a year after Tianjin blasts

Use of pulsed electric fields may reduce scar formation after burns, other injuries

Lost in translation: Chinese tourist taken for refugee in Germany

WATER WORLD
Scientists invent new type of 'acoustic prism'

New algorithm for optimized stability of planar-rod objects

De-icing agent remains stable at more than a million atmospheres of pressure

Living Structural Materials Could Open New Horizons for Engineers and Architects

WATER WORLD
Global warming's next surprise: Saltier beaches

Drought ravages Lesotho as water is exported to S.Africa

Hardened shorelines reduce species diversity and abundance

With droughts and downpours, climate change feeds Chesapeake Bay algal blooms

WATER WORLD
Syracuse University researchers confirm marine animals live longer at high latitudes

Arctic methane seeps host abundance of specialized life forms

NASA Maps Thawed Areas Under Greenland Ice Sheet

Antarctic sea ice may be a source of mercury in southern ocean fish and birds

WATER WORLD
Sequencing of fungal disease genomes may help prevent banana arma

Not all is green in Mexico City's Aztec garden district

Saving bees: France's thriving city hives offer token help

California grapes threatened by giant fire

WATER WORLD
'Unprecedented' floods kill at least 3 in southern US

Sudan floods kill 100, destroy villages: officials

More big Atlantic storms forecast for this hurricane season

Seawalls, coastal forests in Japan help reduce tsunami damage

WATER WORLD
Wanted Rwandan warlord's security chief held in DR Congo

Unprecedented Ethiopia protests far from over: analysts

South Sudan accepts deployment of regional force: IGAD

US, Senegal troops wind up first-ever emergency exercise

WATER WORLD
How did primate brains get so big

Total number of neurons - not enlarged prefrontal region - hallmark of human brain

Archaeologists find Britain's last hunter-gatherers on small island

Scientists decode sentence signatures among brain activity patterns









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.