Submarine groundwater discharge from oceanic islands standing in oligotrophic oceans: Implications for global biological production and organic carbon fluxes

Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) from Jeju Volcanic Island, Korea, contributes significantly to nutrient fluxes in coastal embayments, potentially supporting substantial new primary production. The study found that SGD-driven dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) inputs were more than 90% of the net DIN input into Hwasun Bay and Bangdu Bay, with approximately 93% and 39% of this DIN being consumed within these bays, respectively. The total DIN discharge from the entire island was estimated at 2.1 × 10^9 mol yr−1, equivalent to that of large rivers, potentially supporting around 1.6 × 10^11 g carbon yr−1 of new primary production. This suggests that SGD from highly permeable oceanic islands could play a crucial role in global nutrient budgets and biological production, despite these islands representing less than 1% of the total land mass of volcanic islands.

Kim, G., Kim, J.-S., & Hwang, D.-W. (2011). Submarine groundwater discharge from oceanic islands standing in oligotrophic oceans: Implications for global biological production and organic carbon fluxes. Limnology and Oceanography, 56(2), 673–682. Portico. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2011.56.2.0673