This thesis assesses the role of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in St. Louis Bay, Mississippi. Located along the northern Gulf of Mexico, St. Louis Bay (SLB) is a semi-enclosed bay that is important to the local area for recreation and tourism. SGD is the movement of any water into the water column across the sediment-water interface. In coastal environments, SGD can be a source of a variety of substances including nutrients and pollutants. In this study, a steady state mass balance approach was used to quantify SGD flux for SLB using 223Ra, 224Ra, and Ba. Using the water volume flux data calculated from the mass balances and groundwater endmembers for CH4, NO3, NO2, NH4, PO4, and SiO3, fluxes from SGD of these select substances were calculated. It was found that the average water volume flux of SGD was 5.3 · 105 m3 d-1 and delivers approximately 1300 mol d-1 during the sampling period. SGD was also found to be a significant source of NO3 (17-60 kmol d-1) and PO4 (12-42 kmol d-1) into the bay. Since nutrient loading is a concern in St. Louis Bay for eutrophication, understanding the role SGD plays is an important consideration for managing this environmental issue.
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis assesses the role of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in St. Louis Bay, Mississippi. Located along the northern Gulf of Mexico, St. Louis Bay (SLB) is a semi-enclosed bay that is important to the local area for recreation and tourism. SGD is the movement of any water into the water column across the sediment-water interface. In coastal environments, SGD can be a source of a variety of substances including nutrients and pollutants. In this study, a steady state mass balance approach was used to quantify SGD flux for SLB using <sup>223</sup>Ra, <sup>224</sup>Ra, and Ba. Using the water volume flux data calculated from the mass balances and groundwater endmembers for CH<sub>4</sub>, NO<sub>3</sub>, NO<sub>2</sub>, NH<sub>4</sub>, PO<sub>4</sub>, and SiO<sub>3</sub>, fluxes from SGD of these select substances were calculated. It was found that the average water volume flux of SGD was 5.3 · 10<sup>5</sup> m<sup>3</sup> d<sup>-1</sup> and delivers approximately 1300 mol d<sup>-1</sup> during the sampling period. SGD was also found to be a significant source of NO<sub>3</sub> (17-60 kmol d<sup>-1</sup>) and PO<sub>4</sub> (12-42 kmol d<sup>-1</sup>) into the bay. Since nutrient loading is a concern in St. Louis Bay for eutrophication, understanding the role SGD plays is an important consideration for managing this environmental issue.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Spaid, Haley"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Alan Shiller","Christopher Hayes","Davin Wallace"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:19Z","subjects":["submarine groundwater discharge","methane","nutrients","St. Louis","radium","barium Bay","Biogeochemistry"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/780","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Alan Shiller","Christopher Hayes","Davin Wallace"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Spaid, Haley"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-10-09T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["submarine groundwater discharge","methane","nutrients","St. Louis","radium","barium Bay","Biogeochemistry"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/780"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis assesses the role of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in St. Louis Bay, Mississippi. Located along the northern Gulf of Mexico, St. Louis Bay (SLB) is a semi-enclosed bay that is important to the local area for recreation and tourism. SGD is the movement of any water into the water column across the sediment-water interface. In coastal environments, SGD can be a source of a variety of substances including nutrients and pollutants. In this study, a steady state mass balance approach was used to quantify SGD flux for SLB using 223Ra, 224Ra, and Ba. Using the water volume flux data calculated from the mass balances and groundwater endmembers for CH4, NO3, NO2, NH4, PO4, and SiO3, fluxes from SGD of these select substances were calculated. It was found that the average water volume flux of SGD was 5.3 · 105 m3 d-1 and delivers approximately 1300 mol d-1 during the sampling period. SGD was also found to be a significant source of NO3 (17-60 kmol d-1) and PO4 (12-42 kmol d-1) into the bay. Since nutrient loading is a concern in St. Louis Bay for eutrophication, understanding the role SGD plays is an important consideration for managing this environmental issue.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Contribution of Submarine Groundwater Discharge to Select Biogeochemical Fluxes in St. Louis Bay, Mississippi"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Alan Shiller","Christopher Hayes","Davin Wallace"],"dc:creator":["Spaid, Haley"],"dc:date.available":["2020-10-09T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis assesses the role of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in St. Louis Bay, Mississippi. Located along the northern Gulf of Mexico, St. Louis Bay (SLB) is a semi-enclosed bay that is important to the local area for recreation and tourism. SGD is the movement of any water into the water column across the sediment-water interface. In coastal environments, SGD can be a source of a variety of substances including nutrients and pollutants. In this study, a steady state mass balance approach was used to quantify SGD flux for SLB using 223Ra, 224Ra, and Ba. Using the water volume flux data calculated from the mass balances and groundwater endmembers for CH4, NO3, NO2, NH4, PO4, and SiO3, fluxes from SGD of these select substances were calculated. It was found that the average water volume flux of SGD was 5.3 · 105 m3 d-1 and delivers approximately 1300 mol d-1 during the sampling period. SGD was also found to be a significant source of NO3 (17-60 kmol d-1) and PO4 (12-42 kmol d-1) into the bay. Since nutrient loading is a concern in St. Louis Bay for eutrophication, understanding the role SGD plays is an important consideration for managing this environmental issue.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/780"],"dc:subject":["submarine groundwater discharge","methane","nutrients","St. Louis","radium","barium Bay","Biogeochemistry"],"dc:title":["Contribution of Submarine Groundwater Discharge to Select Biogeochemical Fluxes in St. Louis Bay, Mississippi"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:19Z"}