RUI: Groundwater occurrence and discharge at coral atoll and barrier reef systems

面对气候变化，保护珊瑚礁生态系统是自然科学领域最紧迫的挑战之一。它需要对陆地环境和珊瑚礁环境之间的相互作用有透彻的了解。一个重要的相互作用是地下水流入海洋，成为热带岛屿珊瑚礁环境变化的关键驱动因素。这项研究探索珊瑚礁系统的水文地质学，并追踪地下水和相关化学物质流入和通过这些系统的情况。这项研究的结果为社会提供了有关海底地下水排放对珊瑚礁系统健康的作用的必要信息。该项目还有助于扩大以本科为主的机构对研究生和本科生的教育和培训，并与当地组织结成伙伴关系，以增加社区成员的科学知识。这项工作的目的是绘制、测量和成像法属波利尼西亚火山岛(Mo‘orea)和珊瑚礁(Tetiaroa)上的珊瑚礁的水文地质情况，以便限制和放大流向珊瑚礁的地下水。这项研究集成了电阻率剖面图、放射性同位素分析、光纤分布式温度传感、取芯和染料传输研究、热成像和数值模拟，以追踪地下水进入和通过珊瑚礁的运动。分析了珊瑚礁新陈代谢、总碱度和溶解无机碳的指标，以测量海底地下水排放对酸化海洋中珊瑚礁生态系统功能的影响。这项工作的结果支持未来对环礁和高岛礁的水文影响的战略调查，包括NSF资助的莫雷亚珊瑚礁长期生态研究(LTER)项目。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Preservation of reef ecosystems in the face of climate change is one of the most pressing challenges in natural science. It requires thorough understanding of the interactions between terrestrial and reef environments. An important interaction is the flow of groundwater to the ocean as a key driver of environmental change in tropical island coral reefs. This study explores the hydrogeology of reef systems and traces the flow of groundwater and related chemicals to and through these systems. Results from this research benefit society by providing needed information about the role of submarine groundwater discharges on the health of reef systems. The project also serves to broaden the education and training of graduate and undergraduate students in a primarily undergraduate institution and partner with local organizations to increase scientific knowledge among community members. A short video documentary will be produced and distributed through media outlets and the National Geographic OpenExplorer blog site to reach a broad audience.The purpose of this work is to map, measure, and image the hydrogeology of reefs on a French Polynesian volcanic island (Mo’orea) and coral atoll (Tetiaroa) so that the groundwater flow to reefs can be constrained and up-scaled. The research integrates electrical resistivity profiling, radioisotope analysis, fiber optic distributed temperature sensing, coring and dye transport studies, thermal imagery, and numerical modeling, to trace groundwater movement to and through the reef. Proxies for reef metabolism, total alkalinity and dissolved inorganic carbon are analyzed to gage impact of submarine groundwater discharge on reef ecosystem functioning in an acidifying ocean. The results of this work support future strategic investigations of hydrologic impacts on both atoll and high-island reefs, including the NSF-funded Mo’orea Coral Reef Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.