invisible

biology
+
medicine

the
polluter
The Effect of Groundwater
Discharge on Coastal
Ecosystems

by Misha Tran
Credit: Jenny Huang

10
10 stanford scientific
 T
he next time you reach for that
bottle of Advil or that cup of coffee as you try
to fend off an on-setting headache and to gain a
few more hours for that problem set, consider
this: you may be contributing to the presence of ibuprofen
and caffeine in coastal oceans and inadvertently affecting
coral reefs and other coastal ecosystems. In a study conducted
by Dr. Adina Paytan, assistant professor of Geological and
Environmental Sciences at Stanford, and her team of Stanford
University researchers, Dr. Alexandria Boehm and students in
Civil and Environmental Engineering, found that groundwater
discharge is a source of pollution for coastal waters.
The State Of Coral Reefs Today
Coral reefs, found in the clear, warm waters of tropical
oceans, are an important source of productivity and diversity
in the ocean environment. The corals maintain a symbiotic
relationship with algae and together, provide food and shelter
for many different species of fish and marine life. Additionally,
coral reefs protect coasts from erosion by slowing down and
thus minimizing the impact of strong waves. In recent years,
however, coral reefs have been in decline in most places
around the world due to human activities such as: sediment
overloading, over fishing, climate change, eutrophication,
and diseases. Increasing nutrient pollution at some locations
has led to algal blooms and inversely, a decline in the coral
reefs. The coral is better adapted to water where the nutrient
concentration is low while macro algae flourish when there
are more nutrients, particularly phosphorous and nitrogen.
In the Bahamas and in Jamaica, according to Dr. Paytan, “it’s
been documented that nutrient loading has caused a phase
shift between coral to algae.” In her study, Dr. Paytan looked
at groundwater as a potential source of nutrient pollution.
Scientists have long suspected groundwater as a source, but
according to Dr. Paytan, there has been no previous extensive
study that has “directly quantified the nutrient and pollutant
flux associated with this submarine groundwater discharge
and its effect on the reef.” Although the percolation of
groundwater into the ocean is typically not a visible process,
a mixture of groundwater and sea water seeps into the ocean
wherever the coast washes the land. In the past, there have
been cases where pollution was seen to impact the surrounding
coastal biological community, including corals, but not always
a specific source of pollution was identified. Thus, Dr. Paytan
wanted to determine if groundwater could be this “hidden”
source.
Focusing On Groundwater
Over the course of several years, Dr. Paytan and her team
took samples of oceanwater and groundwater in Mexico,
Hawaii, California, Florida, and the Red Sea. The level of
radium isotopes, geochemical tracers produced in rocks and
soil, was used to determine the extent to which groundwater
was mixing with the oceanwater since radium isotope is found
at a much higher concentration in saline groundwater than
in sea water. The researchers found that radium isotopes
existed at higher than normal concentrations in open sea
water at the land-ocean interface at all sites including where
coral live. They then measured the type and amount of
nutrients and pollutants in the groundwater and used this to
determine how much pollution from land sources was present
in the sea water. What Dr. Paytan and her collaborators found
layout design: Ly Nguyen
biology
was the presence of bacteria, estrogen, caffeine, +
pharmaceutical drugs, nitrate, and other pollutants in medicine
the water. Since pinpointing groundwater as a source
of coastal pollution, Paytan and her researchers have
returned several times to Hawaii and have documented high
radium and nutrient levels at different sites. They are also
starting to analyze samples of ocean water for the presence of
human-made products, such as caffeine and pharmaceutical
products, and are indeed finding them in the sea water. In
this next phase of her research, Paytan hopes to elucidate the
relationship between the amount of nutrients and pollutants
in sea water and the health of the coral reef and the effect of
land use on these two factors.
Looking Into The Future
The objective of this study was to determine if
groundwater is present in coastal oceans and if it is a source of
pollutants, and Dr. Paytan’s research has shown the presence
of groundwater and pollutants in sea water.
Ultimately, Dr. Paytan wants her research to raise
public awareness about the impact that humans have on coral
reefs and other coastal ecosystems. She says, “I want the public
to realize that there is another conduit of pollution that’s not
easily seen... [groundwater] is like an invisible invader.” Dr.
Paytan believes that the protection of coral reefs is vital to the
maintenance of biodiversity in the oceans and industries, such
as fishery and tourism, that depend on them. The health of the
coral reefs, Dr. Paytan believes, should be taken into account
when developmental projects are undertaken in the future. For
example, instead of having golf courses and other facilities be
built adjacent to the shore line, we should build these further
away to minimize the impact of groundwater discharge on
coral reefs. The challenge for us in the future, therefore, will
be to balance economic development and expansion with the
maintenance of a fragile natural resource that is invaluable to
the ocean ecosystem by considering the impact of groundwater
discharge as a pollution source. S
MISHA TRAN is a sophomore with interests in biology and history.
To Learn More:
For more information, visit the website of Dr. Adina Pay-
tan’s Chemical Oceanography Lab: http://pangea.stan-
ford.edu/research/paytanlab/main.html
Photo Credit: NOAA
Coral reef bleaching, resulting from the loss of symbiotic algae, occurs
under environmental stresses such as increasing ocean temperature.
volume
volumevv 11
11