The mangrove pump: the tidal flushing of animal burrows in a tropical mangrove forest determined from radionuclide budgets

Stieglitz, Thomas C., Clarke, Jordan F., and Hancock, Gary J. (2013) The mangrove pump: the tidal flushing of animal burrows in a tropical mangrove forest determined from radionuclide budgets. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 102. pp. 12-22.

[img] PDF (Published Version) - Published Version
Restricted to Repository staff only

View at Publisher Website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2012.10....
 
87
5


Abstract

Intertidal mangrove forests contribute significantly to biogeochemical solute budgets of tropical and subtropical coastlines. A significant part of the biogeochemical cycling in mangrove ecosystems occurs within the subsurface of the forest floor. This subsurface source and the 'offshore' sink are linked by the tidally-driven movement of water through the mangrove forest floor. The tidal circulation through animal macro-burrows in the Coral Creek mangrove forest (area 3 km²) on Hinchinbrook Island (Australia) is documented by constructing mass balances of isotopes of radium and radon measured in the creek in 1997 and 2005 respectively. Isotope activities in burrows were found to be significantly greater than in the adjacent mangrove creek (e.g. for 222Rn, 680–1750 and 30–170 Bq m⁻³ in burrows and creek respectively). From isotope mass balances, a daily water circulation flux through burrows of 30.4 ± 4.7 L m⁻² of forest floor is calculated. This study quantifies the underlying physical process, i.e. the tidal flushing of burrows, that supports significant and continuous exports of soluble organic and inorganic matter from mangrove forest floors to the coastal ocean. The potential significance of the circulation flux estimate is illustrated by up-scaling of the forest-scale estimates to the mangrove forests in the entire central Great Barrier Reef. This extrapolation indicates that the annual water flux circulated by this tidally-driven 'mangrove pump' is equivalent to as much as 20% (16–22%) of the total annual river discharge along the ca. 400 km long coastline of this region.

Item ID: 25445
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1872-9533
Funders: Australian Research Council (ARC), James Cook University
Date Deposited: 14 Mar 2013 23:51
FoR Codes: 04 EARTH SCIENCES > 0402 Geochemistry > 040203 Isotope Geochemistry @ 50%
04 EARTH SCIENCES > 0405 Oceanography > 040503 Physical Oceanography @ 50%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9605 Ecosystem Assessment and Management > 960503 Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Coastal and Estuarine Environments @ 30%
96 ENVIRONMENT > 9609 Land and Water Management > 960903 Coastal and Estuarine Water Management @ 40%
96 ENVIRONMENT > 9611 Physical and Chemical Conditions of Water > 961102 Physical and Chemical Conditions of Water in Coastal and Estuarine Environments @ 30%
Downloads: Total: 5
More Statistics

Actions (Repository Staff Only)

Item Control Page Item Control Page