Current Research:

Hypothesis:

My current research is focussed on change in redox conditions caused by submarine groundwater discharge (SGD). My study area is Indian River Lagoon, Florida, where most submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) originates as sea water pumped into sediments (Martin et. al. 2004), although along seepage faces (near the coast) a large contribution of meteoric water is reported from seepage measurements. Due to mixing caused by SGD, O2 rich sea water mixes with O2 poor pore water thereby controlling the pore water redox conditions which control mass fluxes, particularly of redox sensitive elements such as metals, remineralized carbon and associated nitrogen and phosphorous. I hypothesize that distributions of redox sensitive elements will reflect redox conditions in pore waters and could be utilized as nonconservative tracers to understand the metal oxidation caused by SGD.

Big Question:

What is the role of saline-fresh water interface in the distribution of redox sensitive metals?

Part A

Fe & Mn

in pore water

in sediments

Part B

Other Metals (in pore water)

Part C

Mathematical modeling

Numerical solution of diagenetic equation for nonconsertvative metals and quantification of consumption/production of metals by microbial diagenesis of organic C.

Part D

Fe Isotope studies

To track the geochemical path of Fe in the system..