CONTRIBUTION OF FRESH SUBMARINE GROUNDWATER DISCHARGE TO THE GULF OF ALASKA

Global and near-global estimates of fresh submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) have provided drastically different results that vary over an order of magnitude. Narrowing the scope by focusing on regionally specific processes may prove to provide more reliable estimates of fresh SGD, as well as more effectively isolate potential SGD hotspots. This is especially true in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA), where complex topography, geology, and climate are coupled with recharge inputs derived from rainfall, snowmelt, glacial-melt, and glacier volume loss. This study estimates fresh SGD to the GOA with a simple water balance approach that integrates high temporal and spatial resolution recharge inputs over coastal recharge areas. Surficial geologic maps are incorporated to explore residence and transit times based on associated hydraulic conductivities that have not previously been conducted. By using recharge inputs that have been modeled over large timescales (1980-2019) at high temporal resolution (daily), we may begin to link fresh SGD with other physical and biological phenomena and observe how this flux is being altered by climate driven change over the last several decades. Although freshwater discharge to the GOA is well-constrained, the importance of fresh SGD to the GOA has, thus far, been overlooked.